


Heroic Tactics

by NeverlandAwaits (Maicee)



Category: Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, I sincerely apologise for all those character tags but they literally all appear, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2778350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maicee/pseuds/NeverlandAwaits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started out as a normal day, completely average until the green planet decided to make a beeline towards Earth. Everyone has learned to predict the unpredictable, especially when there's truly only a select few they can trust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This is a fanfic I posted on FF.net a while ago and I decided to update it here as well!

_January 14th - 8:45am_

The day should have been normal, the keyword being  _should_.

It had at least started out normal, people going to work and school in a rush. The Cartoon Network Universe was a very happening place, after all. While people mostly resided in their own towns, there were times where the heroes and villains would interact. School was one of those times, and as the majority of the characters were in their teenage years, middle and high schools were where most of them were during the day.

After a decree from the Mayor of Townsville (that was actually proposed by the secretary Sara Bellum, but not many people knew that), many students were merged into the same school. It was a social experiment meant to cut funds that never truly ended. None of the students really cared anymore, having already become used to each other.

Pokey Oaks High was one of the schools that was used for the budget cuts. Originally, not many students attended, but now there were many people littering the halls on this fine morning.

Princess Morbucks was one of these people, though she was standing in a corner on her phone instead of chatting with her friends. Not that she actually had any, but in her opinion that was, and always would be, the fault of the Powerpuff Girls. No, instead of spending her time like a normal high school girl, she was texting an evil genius that took the form of a green monkey. Or, at least she was trying to. For an evil genius, one would have thought he would learn how to text.

Biting her lip so she didn't curse in frustration, she texted,  _'Oi, monkey u there? r u even an evil genius like u cant even text.'_

It was quite a few minutes before she received a response.  _'I am Mojo Jojo! Of course I can text. I am able to put my fingers on the buttons, the ones that produce the letters required for a text. There I will type my sentence, no more words, no less words. I am indeed an evil genius! I am a genius as I have the perfect brain capacity to be considered as such, and I am evil because of my indecency to all human kind. Thus, I am both evil and a genius, presenting me with the title of 'evil genius'!'_

Princess should have expected this sort of response, but she rolled her eyes anyway. This was a textbook case of Mojo Jojo. If she had the patience she would actually write that textbook with example after example of his behaviour. Maybe she could get a publisher to do it for her. Her father did know a few of those types of people, after all. Hell, he knew at least one person in every profession. It was such a convenience to the young girl.

The bell rang, signalling the beginning of class. With a click of her tongue, Princess shoved her phone in her pocket before quickly taking out her books and walking to class. She made sure to carry as little as possible. Nails were breakable and a lot more important than her education. Who needed mathematics when she had her family accountants?

"You're late, Miss Morbucks," her history teacher said as she sat down on the nearest seat to the door. "Detention after school."

Princess gave the teacher a look as if to say,  _"And you have actually deluded yourself into thinking I'm gonna show?"_

The class started, but before Princess could pretend to pay attention, a voice beside her said, "You know, maybe if you went to detention they could teach you how to be a Powerpuff Girl."

"Shut it, Eddy."

The shorter boy gave her his crooked smile before jotting a few things down in his notebook. Definitely not history notes - probably something for the next scheme he was cooking up. Princess had never liked the scammer. Sure, they both liked to manipulate people, but in her mind she was actually  _good_  at it while he was incredibly mediocre. She definitely hated other people more than him, and not just the Powerpuffs (like that Mandork kid and his cracked up laugh), but he was still a thorn in her side.

Ignoring the pest beside her, she took her phone out once again and started texting under the desk. She wasn't expecting anything new to be there, but there was another message from Mojo. Tapping it, she knitted her eyebrows together as she read.

_'This is one of Mojo's minions, Spencer. He's gone to space but he wanted me to tell you to get to the volcano urgently.'_

Her fingers were silent as they tapped her reply.  _'Huh wats goin on? I cant go til next period. Wait wat u mean hes gone 2 space?'_

She didn't receive an answer after that, so she spent the rest of her time filing her nails and ignoring the teacher. The rest of the class socialized whenever they were left to their work, but she didn't really speak to anyone. Everyone was beneath her, after all. There were the occasional exceptions, namely boys she had her eye on, but other than that everyone was basically scum.

The bell rang a while later and Princess joined the swarm of students that ran out the door without waiting for the teacher's instructions. The small break between periods was meant for book dumping and collecting, but Princess had never really cared about time limits. She zoomed past the other people in the hallway, throwing her books inside her locker before looking for a place she could be discreet while lifting off. Usually she loved the attention, but being caught sneaking out of school wouldn't be pretty. Therefore, secrecy was essential.

The perfect place was behind the female bathrooms near the oval. Nobody went there during the short breaks, and Princess knew this from experience, so she crept over there as fast as she could and launched herself into the sky. She hadn't gone too far before someone saw her.

"Princess! Where are you going?! Class is in five!"

Damn those Powerpuffs and their heightened senses.

Only one of them was down below. Blossom wasn't hard to spot, and it wasn't just because most people knew her and her sisters. With her red hair and bright pink clothing she stood out from many of the other students. She was wearing the signature scowl, the one she wore when she was scolding others, which happened so much Princess was shocked that it hadn't stuck when the wind changed direction.

"Whatever, Blossom! I need to get to Mojo's volcano. One of his weirdo minions said something about him being in space.  _Bye_!" With a rude gesture, she flew in the direction of Downtown.

* * *

 

_January 14th - 10:01am_

"Dexter!"

Usually during morning break, Dexter would go to the library and work on a few blueprints or finish his homework real quick so he had more time to spend at his laboratory after school. He didn't actually need school, or at least in his opinion he didn't, but the mandatory attendance policy said otherwise. If it was up to him, he would spend day and night at the laboratory, but school and a few other annoyances (such as a certain older sister of his) wouldn't let him. It was safe to say that socializing wasn't his strong point, and that was why he let out a long sigh as he closed his locker.

"Yes, Blossom?"

The older of the triplets wasn't even bothered by his bitter tone. They had become acquainted due to being in a lot of the same classes and had become used to each other. If there was anyone Dexter would be able to call a friend, or even something close to one, it would be Blossom. Still, he couldn't spend time around  _anyone_  for more than five minutes without getting exhausted.

"Do you know of anything happening in space at all?" Blossom asked, eyes darting around nervously.

Dexter raised an eyebrow. "And you are interested in this subject why?"

Blossom pursed her lips. "Princess ran off in a hurry at the end of first period. She said something about Mojo Jojo going to space? I don't know, but I just need to know if you've seen anything up there."

"Sorry, Blossom, but astronomy has not been at the forefront of my mind as of late. Maybe you can check for yourself later this afternoon or tonight?" he said, beginning to walk to the library. There was no need to stop his routine just because of some social interaction.

"I would, but Bubbles and I are busy today," Blossom said, eyes drifting to her shoes as they walked in step with the boy genius.

Dexter didn't need to ask what she was doing that afternoon. It had been only a few months since Buttercup's disappearance into the sea, but the remaining to girls along with their 'dad' had not given up hope that she was out there somewhere. While he had never really been in their shoes, he could empathize a little due to having a sister of his own. She may not have been a crime fighter, but she was definitely accident prone. Not that she ever hindered  _herself_  during any of her episodes.

Shuddering, he turned his head slightly so he could see Blossom more clearly. "I see. Well, I'm sure you will find out soon enough if it's a matter to be concerned about. I don't really question the motives of the green monkey. I have my own 'evil genius' ignoramus to worry about."

The two of them were about to enter the library when a tremor rippled under them, coming and going before they could say, 'earthquake'. Blossom managed to lift herself so she hovered just about the ground, but Dexter wasn't as lucky. He fell backwards, hitting his elbows on the pavement in an attempt to keep himself from hitting his head. Some would argue it was his only redeeming quality, after all. He yelped in pain, making Blossom giggle a bit before offering to help him up. He took her hand and brushed himself off, a frown on his face.

"I wonder what that was," Blossom said after her giggling had subsided.

As if responding to her thoughts, shouts were heard from the oval, which wasn't too far away from the library. Dexter and Blossom looked at each other before walking (or, in Blossom's case, hovering) towards the commotion. Students and teachers alike were standing in a circle, surrounding something Dexter couldn't see due to his short stature. Seeing his problem, Blossom lifted him into the air a little so he could see what it was.

'It' was definitely the term for this, well, this  _thing_. It was green and sort of round, but there were bumps all over it. Some sort of substance was oozing from all sides and dripping onto the grass. People were staring and talking among themselves, wondering what on earth was happening. No one moved for a while until someone shoved through to the front of the crowd.

"Look, Eddy! It's a giant jawbreaker!"

Dexter sucked in a deep breath. People like Ed irritated him to no end, but patience was a virtue. He had learned that much when it came to Dee Dee. At least Ed wasn't his responsibility. If anyone, it was Edd's, and there he was, dodging the stronger people in the crowd to reach his idiotic friend.

"Ed! I highly doubt that this is a jawbreaker! N-No! Don't lick it!"

The crowd's eyes moved towards 'the Eds', as they were affectionately named (or not so affectionately as it was really hard to tell what the kids from the Cul-de-sac thought sometimes) as they argued over the origin of the supposed jawbreaker. Dexter's eyes remained on the green object, inspecting it and running theories through his head. It was a habit he had picked up as a child, always being the type to wonder how things worked and where they came from as opposed to either ignoring it or using it without intending to update it. He never really understood how people could go through their day-to-day lives not wondering how exactly their pieces of technology or how nature worked.

Before he could stare at it for too long, however, the substance on the ground began to move, forming into a round shape resembling a teardrop. He grabbed the arm of the person holding him, which directed her attention towards the object. She cried out and almost dropped Dexter as she did so, making him grumble. She set him down gently before hesitantly flying over to the moving forms, which were now growing eyes and teeth, the former of which were as red as blood.

"What the hell are those? Is this Grim's doing?" came the cold voice of Mandy, eyes narrowed. "Damn underworld."

Suddenly, the green monsters shot out at them, causing a panic. They attempted to bite people with their pointy teeth and leave the substance all of their skin. Most of the students were running away as fast as they could but Dexter, in a state of idiotic bravery, grabbed a glass vial from his pocket and ran over to the substance the spawns left behind, scooping it up as quickly as he could as well as making sure he didn't get any of it on his skin. Who knew what it could do to him?

"Dexter, come on!" he heard Blossom yell as she kicked one of the little spawns off of Bubbles, who was screaming, "Ew, ew, ew!" in quick succession.

Not wasting any more time, he ran towards the library, preparing for the principal's message which would, hopefully, be sending all the students home.

* * *

 

_January 14th - 12:34pm_

Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr. was in a crisis.

After being sent home from school, he hadn't been able to take the time to sit back and relax, not with what was going on. Being a teen agent had its perks, but it definitely had its lows, such as being last on the priority list of Moonbase. Contacting them was a marathon and a half with how they were only allowed to converse in secret, and now was no exception.

"C'mon, I don't have all day!" he growled, resisting the urge to pound his fist on one of the many buttons of the control panel.

Abby walked up behind him, staring at the screens used for transmission. They had been installed quite recently compared to the rest of the tree-house technology so they could converse with the teen bases on the other planets in the Solar System. All were on standby save for the Moonbase screen, which was right in the centre.

"You know the Soopreme Leaduh is busy," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "Abby was in that position once before too, remember?"

Hoagie whirled around in his chair, slightly jumping at the sound of her voice. "Yeah, I know, but I wish they would listen to us now if not any other time ever. This is serious. What the hell were those things earlier today?"

Abby shrugged. "No idea, baby. We just gotta be patient. Abby's sure Dexter or that Mandark guy will figure something out. The little monster things are being kept at bay for the time being. Nowhere else around this planet or whatever became infected with that stuff. Still, where did that green thing  _come_  from?"

Her voice grew quieter with each sentence, which meant to Hoagie that she was about to go into deep thought. He figured he would leave her alone for a while and go back to waiting impatiently for the Soopreme Leaduh to answer him, so he turned back to the screens only to find a new discovery.

"What in the world?!"

All of the monitors were showing static, the only words being  _'NO RECEPTION'_. Usually it was a problem on their end when that happened, like a power outage or something of the sort, but that didn't appear to be the case. The lights weren't flickering and Kuki had checked on the hamsters as soon as they had arrived back from school, so they weren't the problem. The antenna was working fine according to his tablet, so that didn't have anything to do with it either. This was too strange.

"What's wrong, Hoagie?" Abby asked, leaning over the desk chair so she could see the screens. "Huh? This doesn't usually happen."

Hoagie was about to make a sarcastic comment, but he was interrupted by a heavily accented voice. "Oi, what's that up there?"

Numbuhs Two and Five walked into the main room where the large windows were, showing them an excellent view of Sector V below as well as a heads-on view of the sky. Wally was pointing at something towards the left, his body angled so he could see it properly. Hoagie and Abby did the same, pressing themselves up against the glass so they could see. Kuki joined them a few seconds later, orange rainbow monkey in hand as she took the spot to Wally's right.

It didn't take Hoagie long to see what Wally was talking about. It was small, but he was sure that was just the distance. It was a green sphere, or at least the green parts made up a sphere. There were smaller shapes jutting out from the green surface like really bad boils, all of them a different colour than the rest. It was something Hoagie would only imagine seeing in one of his sci-fi shows, and if he had to guess he would say it was -

"A planet," he whispered, but the rest of his team still heard him, heads moving in unison to look at him.

There was a bit of silence before Abby spoke up. "It sure does look like one. Wouldn't be surprised if it was. It's the same colour as those pod-type things earlier today."

Kuki shuddered, probably remembering the green spawns. A lot of the goo had stained her jumper, much to her chagrin.

Hoagie was about to say something else when he saw something fall from the alleged planet, falling towards the other end of the Suburbs. Judging by his map of the area, it was right near Foster's Home. The team looked at each other before Abby nodded and called out to the rest of them.

"Teen Operatives, battle stations!"


	2. Chapter 2

_January 14th - 1:15pm_

It was no secret that Frankie Foster didn't tolerate interruptions to her housekeeping work, whether it be in the form of an overbearing boss (also known as Mr Herriman), a ridiculously irritating imaginary friend (also known as Blooregard Q. Kazoo), or a scaredy-cat needing comfort (also known as Eduardo). No exceptions were made for the green monkey that had fallen from the sky and landed in the front yard of the orphanage. Why was it always  _her_  job to tend to these things?

"Miss Francis! I expect you to clean this up at once!" the rabbit said, bounding back indoors.

Oh, right.  _That_  was why.

She approached the monkey, who she now recognized as Mojo Jojo, someone she had seen on the news after being beaten up by those three girls that were constantly on there. The Powerpuff Girls, that was their name. Their arch nemesis was now attempting to get up from the crater he had created after slamming into the ground, but it was proving to be rather difficult with Bloo hanging over him. Mac was standing on the sidelines, knowing full well that Bloo would shoo him off if he tried to help the villain.

Frankie was not as supportive of the blob's antics. "Bloo! Get back inside right now."

"But I don't wanna," Bloo whined as Mac dragged him over to the side. Frankie decided it was a good compromise.

She bent down and helped Mojo sit on the side of the crater as he regained his breath. Due to the status of villain their visitor had, she expected at least the Powerpuff Girls to come soaring in if not other various heroes. It had been a weird day, according to Mac. Not only had Pokey Oaks High been attacked, but all of the schools in the area had been evacuated for the day, including Mac's junior high. She expected everyone to be on edge over the tiniest things.

"Alright, dude. What are you doing here?" she asked, holding her jacket tighter around her. Was it just her or was it getting cloudier?

"First of all I am not 'dude', I am Mojo Jojo, the evil genius that lives at Mojo's Volcano, named as such after me because I am Mojo Jojo. Therefore it is completely reasonable to name a place were I live Mojo's Volcano as Mojo Jojo is me and I am Mojo Jojo!" the monkey huffed.

Bloo stage whispered, "Was that meant to be a tongue twister or something?"

Mojo Jojo didn't get an opportunity to answer as two streaks of light, one pink and one blue, flew their way and landed in front of the home.

"Stop right there!"

"Mojo!"

There was a long pause where everyone, even Bloo, stood still. Frankie didn't know what they were all waiting for, and by the looks of it neither did Mac and Bloo. Mojo Jojo looked horrified, as if someone had stopped time and he was the only being able to move. The girls' eyes were downcast, and Bubbles looked like she was on the verge of tears. It was then that Frankie remembered that there were supposed to be three of them, hearing on the news not too long ago that one of them had gone missing.

Having encountered many awkward moments in her life, she clapped her hands to divert everyone's attention. "Alright, Powerpuffs, interrogate away. The less I have to do the better."

Blossom was the first to recover. "What did you do, Mojo?! Last I hear you've been texting Princess and telling her you're in space?!"

"Technically -"

"What the hell were you doing?! Did you send that attack down to the high school?! People got hurt!"

"I am unaware of -"

"Like hell you're unaware!"

The argument was interrupted by a vehicle overhead. The Kids Next Door S.C.A.M.P.E.R. made enough noise to make some of the other imaginary friends appear at the front door to the home, much to Frankie's annoyance. At least it landed in a place she wouldn't have to clean up later, so that was one less thing the rabbit could get on her case about.

Frankie wasn't very well acquainted with the members of the Kids Next Door (though she was sure these guys were teenagers). In fact, she wasn't very well acquainted with others at all. Foster's Home had been her life for so long that she had practically forgotten there was a world outside the orphanage. Granted, if it was up to Mr Herriman she wouldn't leave at all. She sighed. At least she had the grocery shopping.

One of them, dark skinned with a red cap, jumped down from the vehicle and approached the two Powerpuffs. "What's goin' on here? We saw something fall from that green planet looking thing."

Blossom, who had pulled Mojo up by the collar, dropped him and turned to look at the girl. "What are you talking about, Abby? Planet?"

"You mean you didn't see it?" a large boy said, dropping from the pilot's seat. Frankie vaguely remembered him being called Hoagie, watching him as he moved towards the edge of Foster's estate, pointing. "It's right up there. At least we think it's a planet."

Everyone moved to a position where the tall orphanage wasn't blocking the sky. Frankie could see it clearly now, how the green coloured planet seemed to shimmer and pulse, rocking the smaller round shapes attached to it. It was blocking the sun somewhat, which explained the sudden cloudy weather. She was sure whatever that thing was hadn't been there when she had woken up that morning. How did it arrive so quickly?

"It looks like a planet alright," Mac said, forcing Bloo's agape mouth shut.

Abby looked at Mojo, who didn't seem surprised in the slightest. "Was that you who fell from the sky?"

Mojo nodded, eyeing Blossom. Frankie was sure he didn't want to run the risk of being pummeled by talking, but he opened his mouth anyway. "I saw it in my telescope hours ago and went up there leaving three minions, only three, one more than two, one less than four, at the volcano as well as inviting Princess Morbucks, who was conversing with me at the time, and by conversing I mean using the 'text' feature of a mobile device. I flew up in a spaceship, designed by I, Mojo Jojo, to go to space, hence the name spaceship. The green sphere is a planet, a planet with extra terrestrial life forms. I was meant to act on my own scheme, cooked up by I, Mojo Jojo, to destroy Downtown as I am evil, thus being an evil genius, but I was foiled by the leader of the planet who sent me flying, soaring, airborne in the direction of the earth, the place we live on."

"There he goes again," Bloo mumbled.

Everyone was quiet before Blossom sprung into action. "I'm going to Tech Square after dropping Mojo off at his stupid volcano. Bubbles, can you go back and tell the professor where I am and get him to see what he can find out about this planet and the aliens on it?"

"Roger!" The two of them nodded and zoomed off, Blossom with a squirming Mojo dangling from her hands, in different directions, leaving the residents of Foster's Home to panic.

"What are we gonna do?!"

"Aliens, aliens, aliens!"

"Maybe if we say sorry to them they might leave?"

"Coco cococo coco co!"

Frankie looked at Mac, who looked back at her. Seeing as they were the only two sane people in this situation, they knew they would have to be the ones to calm everything down. That was, unless the Kids Next Door helped them.

Mac was about to ask when they saw Abby salute them at the doorway to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. before flying off in the direction of Sector V. It seemed that they, too, were out of the question.

"Uh, Coco? Sorry, but where are you going?"

Frankie looked over to see Coco who was running around in circles yet somehow still managing to move further and further down the front path. As soon as Wilt asked her the question she jumped in the air and flapped her wings frantically, shouting the only word she knew before zig-zagging down the pathway and into the outskirts of the Wilds.

"I'll get her!" Mac shouted, and before Frankie could protest he was gone as well, making a beeline for the eccentric imaginary friend.

Frankie turned back around to the rest of the residents who were making an insane amount of noise. Despite being ready to fall into the crater herself and stay there for all eternity, she knew she had to face this sea of panic. She just had to hope and pray that she didn't drown. 

* * *

 

_January 14th - 2:24pm_

"Is this thing broken?"

Benjamin Tennyson scratched his head as he studied his Omnitrix. If only he could actually take it off maybe it would be easier to inspect. Unfortunately, that was not an option and he was stuck looking at it from the outside. It wasn't as if he needed it to work urgently since all he was doing was sitting in Townsville Park, but it was really bothering him.

Gwen looked up from the magic book she was reading. "I doubt it. If you think it's worth checking out maybe you should ask Grandpa Max."

"Ask me what?" the grandfather in question asked, walking over to where his grandchildren and their friend were sitting.

"The Omnitrix is screwed again," Kevin said. He was lying on his back, eyes closed. "I reckon he's been hitting that thing too hard way too many times."

Max gently took Ben's wrist and inspected the Omnitrix, flicking through the options as if it was the television menu. He was almost done exploring the options when an electric charge crackled from the screen, making him flinch and shake his hand to rid himself of the shock. Ben stared at the Omnitrix, wondering what was going on. He didn't want to have anymore useless episodes where his aliens either took control or everything mis-matched so he kept choosing the wrong alien to be. His luck just  _had_  to run out, didn't it?

"It's possible there may be some sort of interference," Max said, apparently deep in thought. "I don't know what it could be, though."

The sky overhead darkened. Gwen took her sunglasses off and looked up at the sky, her eyes widening slightly. "I think I may have found the cause."

Before they could react any further, the planet ejected at least five circular objects, one of which was heading directly for them. They split up, running in different directions as their picnic was crushed. Looking around, Ben saw that Max had already retreated to the Rust Bucket, probably to use the technology and call the other Plumbers.

"It's one of those things from earlier!" Gwen yelled. Ben's focus switched back to the object in front of him and saw that she was correct. Just like what had happened at school, the thing was green and little monsters were coming out of it.

Max's head emerged from one of the RV's windows, his face pale. "One of these things - terrafusers are what the Plumbers are calling them - is in Bellwood. And they're not spawning those little monsters either."

"I'll try and get there fast!" Ben said, turning to his Omnitrix only to remember that it didn't work. "Crap, I can't get it to work! This damn thing is ridiculous!"

"Language, Ben!" Max said, throwing something his way. It seemed to be some sort of laser gun. "It's a prototype, so be careful with it. I've got to get to Bellwood, so I'm trusting you all to take care of everything here."

Ben didn't even bother to watch his grandfather leave, pulling the trigger of his gun and obliterating the, well,  _whatever_  they were. They were really going to need to name these things if they kept coming back, but that wasn't the issue at hand right now. It was meant to be the time for 'going hero', or at least that was what he bitterly thought as he finished the spawns off and began shooting at the terrafuser. He was only slightly aware of Gwen's pink blasts of energy and Kevin beginning to beat the terrafuser with his covered fists.

What only seemed like seconds later, he was about to say they weren't making much progress when Kevin yelped and retracted his hand. The green substance had moved it's way through his metal coating and to his hand. Well then. That didn't usually happen.

"Are you okay, Kevin?" Gwen asked, running to inspect his injury.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, just a little surprised is all," Kevin said, though even from a distance Ben could see that it was fairly painful.

Ben's Plumber's badge began making a noise, so he opened it up to see his grandfather. He looked solemn somewhat, but determined, as if he was part of a war. Then again, Ben guessed they would be soon enough with the way things were going. Kevin and Gwen saw Max and gathered on either side of Ben, watching as he relayed his message.

"We need to get to DexLabs. Right now. I'll meet you guys there." Kevin checked the time and showed it to Ben. They had been fighting for half an hour despite it feeling only like a minute. "Dexter's having a meeting with people who can help whatever this is even a little."

Gwen started, "What happened to Bell-" The communicator had already disconnected.

Kevin heaved a long sigh and walked towards his car. "C'mon, better not keep the little geek waiting." 

* * *

 

_January 14th - 3:12pm_

Edd didn't like crowds very much. In fact, he didn't really like going Downtown, but Dexter had requested his presence himself, and it just wasn't polite to refuse an invitation, even in such a strange circumstance. His social circle mainly included the other two Eds, the rest of the kids at the Cul-de-sac and the Kankers. He hadn't really spoken to anyone else at school unless absolutely necessary, and even his intelligence wasn't much of a factor with people like Dexter and Mandark around. Still, he supposed just this once it wouldn't be too bad, though how had Dexter obtained his number, anyway?

He was the first one there, he realized when looking around. The tiled room was blue and white, but no natural light could be seen anywhere, the only illumination coming from the screens at the head of the room. That was where the boy genius stood, arms folded in front of him. Edd watched as he turned around, probably being alerted from the sound of footsteps.

"Punctual as always, Eddward. Or do you prefer Double D?" he said, his body moving so all of him faced Edd. "You may take a seat if you wish."

Edd followed Dexter's finger to the long desk on the other side of the room, chairs surrounding it. He sat so he was still facing Dexter. "D-Double D is my main alias, thank you."

Dexter sat at the head of the table, right beside him. "Your politeness is refreshing. It's a shame that intelligent people such as ourselves are either mocked or taken for granted until we are needed. I assume you have seen the planet by now?"

"Yes, I did observe it as soon as I returned after the mishap at school. Unfortunately, the rest of my comrades at the Cul-de-sac wrote it off as me being difficult. Even Ed and Eddy," Edd said, thinking back. Things had definitely changed after the misfortune of meeting Eddy's older brother, but there were still times were Double D felt alone somewhat. "Jonny may have taken it a little too seriously, I fear. He exclaimed something similar to, "For justice!" and ran back home with his best friend."

"You mean the plank?"

"Plank, yes."

An uncomfortable silence filled the space between them and Edd began playing with his fingers. It was a nervous habit he'd had since he was small along with his compulsion to label things, but he had left his label maker at home. Besides, he didn't think Dexter would appreciate him sticking tags on everything in his company building.

Dexter was about to say something else when three other people walked in. He recognized the girls clad in pink and blue - Blossom and Bubbles. He didn't think there was anyone in the school who didn't know who they were, just like with Dexter. Behind the girls was an older man, probably middle aged, wearing a white lab coat and a kind look on his face. Bubbles shared the same expression, but Blossom looked a little more disgruntled than usual. He wondered what that was about.

"Hello, Dexter," the man said, shaking the red haired boy's hand. "I'm Professor Utonium, the father and creator of the Powerpuff Girls. I've heard quite a bit about you."

Dexter nodded. "And I about you. Please take a seat."

The professor took the spot next to Edd, making him feel somewhat smaller, as the girls sat across from him. Utonium extended his hand to Edd as well, who took it hesitantly. "And you are?"

"Eddward, but I usually go by Double D."

Bubbles perked up as if only just noticing he was there. "Where are Ed and Eddy?"

"Being chased by the Kankers, I expect," Edd said. "That's what was happening when I departed from the Cul-de-sac. I was lucky to escape, but I feel somewhat guilty, leaving them to be devoured like that."

Blossom's gaze broke from the table. "Are they really that bad? I mean, I've only eve met Marie, and she's pretty intelligent when she puts her mind to it, but I'm not sure about the other two."

"Unfortunately, they are. Marie was mysteriously absent today, though. How peculiar," Edd said, his mind wandering into all the reasons Marie may not have been at the Cul-de-sac. None of them were good. In fact, they just kept becoming worse and worse, so he shook his head and paid attention to his surroundings.

More people had dawdled in now, namely Ben Tennyson, his friends, and an older man (he didn't know their names) and the group of four teenagers who were always together. Apparently they had been part of the Kids Next Door back in the day, but he wasn't sure what their significance was now. Mandy and her friend Billy arrived after, accompanied by - Edd shuddered - the Grim Reaper. He had heard rumours of Billy and Mandy's connections to the supernatural and paranormal, but he had never taken it seriously until right then and there.

"Dexter, why're we here?"

Edd swiveled around to his other side where Dee Dee was standing. He had never spoken to the older girl in school, but her perky attitude rivaled the one of Bubbles according to the rumours. He hadn't seen her enter the room and he couldn't help but wonder how in the world she had gotten inside. By the look on Dexter's face, he seemed to be used to this, but he didn't look happy about it.

"That is a good question, Dee Dee. Why are  _you_  here?" Dexter said, eyes narrowing.

"I'm always here!" she said, bouncing up and down.

"And don't I know it."

Dee Dee's attention was diverted towards the dog toddling in the door before Dexter could tell her to leave. Edd couldn't help but watch, if only because he was wondering where on earth a pink dog could come from. Then again, he was surrounded by a child prodigy, two girls created in a laboratory from cooking ingredients and chemicals, and the Grim Reaper. He supposed anything was possible at this point.

A girl tanned girl entered after the dog, scooting around Dee Dee as she cooed. "It's nice to be out of that place! Hello, Dexter. Nice to meet you in person."

"Juniper Lee I presume. It's a pleasure," Dexter said, nodding and inviting her to take a seat. They were really running out of seats.

The last person to arrive wasa man who looked like a samurai. He watched as he sat down with nothing but a nod from him to Dexter.

Dexter took his position at the head of the table as the pink dog sat at the other end, Dee Dee returning to her brother's side. "I suppose you all at least have an inkling of why you are here. It has become apparent to me and many others that we have a danger on our hands. A planet has decided to invade our own land for whatever reason, but we must not let this slide. We will have to work together, everyone, in a war effort. I, for one, do not plan on letting my life be so easily destroyed."

"Obviously we all think that, genius," Mandy said. Her tone of voice always gave Edd the shivers. "What do you want  _us_  to do about it? Oh, and sorry about bringing Billy. He had set up camp at my house and I prefer not to leave him alone in there. The last time I did I couldn't get the bubblegum out of my bed for weeks."

Billy didn't even seem concerned. He was too busy playing with Grim's cape.

Dexter rose an eyebrow but decided not to ask. "Anyway, you are people who I know can help. I've either seen what you can do, have been approached by you, or heard about you from those who have vouched for you. If we are going to get this to work, superheroes or at least those with common sense are going to need to set the example first. I have something I want each of you to do, starting with Professor Utonium. I have heard of your endeavours in the science field and I wish to ask for your assistance in a few things."

The professor nodded in agreement. "It would be an honour. Consider me in."

"Good. Blossom, Bubbles, you two are famous heroes in everyone's eyes and your reputation is stellar, so please continue what you are doing for the war effort. Blossom in particular, may I ask you to be a leader? Your, uh, social skills are better than my own," he said. Edd thought he was doing fairly well, but it  _was_  more of a one-sided conversation.

"Sure!" Bubbles said, happy as ever.

Blossom, upon hearing of her leadership position, sat up straight. "Of course!"

Dexter turned to the four teenagers, who were seated towards the middle of the table. "Abigail-"

"Numbuh Five is on duty. First names are a no-no."

"Right, Numbuh Five. As the leader of Sector V's teenage branch, I ask that you help front the war as well. You have the leadership skills of a previous Soopreme Leaduh of the Kids Next Door under your belt, and right now we need that."

Abigail, or rather Numbuh Five, took her hat off, revealing the rest of her dark hair and eyes, which showed her reluctance. "Numbuh Five doesn't know, Dexter. It was easier to lead kids."

From beside her, the Asian girl with the cheerful smile set her elbows down on the table and said, "Remember what Numbuh One said when he left, Numbuh Five."

Numbuh Five tensed up for a bit, then relaxed and said, "Alright, I'll take it."

"Good." If Dexter had been worried, he didn't show it. "The rest of your Sector, well, I would like Numbuh Two to help with any technology issues in the Suburbs. Downtown and the Suburbs are going to be the main places for that, and since there will be myself and perhaps Mandark, if he will cooperate, in this area we need people good with technology in the Suburbs. That's where you and Double D come in."

Edd stiffened slightly. "Me?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, you." Dexter placed his arms behind his back. "You are good with technology, are you not?"

"Well, yes, but my skill set is nowhere near the level of -"

Dexter dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "You don't give yourself enough credit Double D. Besides, you are also the wisest of the citizens of Peach Creek Commons. Even if it may not work at first, they will listen to you. Plus, you have a pillar of idiotic strength and an ideas man at your disposal. I'm sure you will do fine."

Edd didn't think that was how it worked, but he didn't have it in him to protest. "Alright, I accept."

"Me too," Numbuh Two said, sounding ten times more enthusiastic than Edd had.

Finding this acceptable, Dexter moved on. "Numbuhs Three and Four, where you are stationed is up for your leader to decide. Mandy, you are practically trained in the art of patience and common sense. I need you to take care of the ridiculous ones."

Mandy looked skeptical. "And how am I meant to do this?"

"In any way you know how."

Edd didn't like the look on her face. "Gladly."

"That takes care of that. Benjamin Tennyson?"

"It's Ben."

Dexter scowled. "Ben. You and your allies work with space and extra terrestrials, do you not? May I ask that you continue to work on that, find out what you can? And if you have any information now, that would be very appreciated."

It wasn't Ben who answered, but the older man with him. "I found out a few things from the Plumbers."

"Plumbers?" the blonde boy, who Edd guessed from the process of elimination was Numbuh Four, said. "The heck are you goin' on about?"

As if he was expecting this question, the man answered in a kinder way than Edd expected. "The Plumbers are basically the galactic police. We deal with the law on other planets as well as help others." He turned back to Dexter. "As I was saying, I heard a bit from the Plumbers. That planet is Planet Fusion. The ruler is Lord Fuse and he's made it his life's mission to conquer other planets. He's managed to take down planets before, but he hasn't been around for years. His method of invasion is to send down terrafusers - those green pods - to spawn his monsters. At least the smaller ones are for monsters. The bigger ones are to spread Fusion matter, also known as the green substance surrounding the place. Apparently those haven't been sent down yet, but it's only a matter of time."

"How many terrafusers have already come down?" Juniper Lee asked, crossing one leg over the other.

"Seven, or at least that's the information we can gather," the man said.

"That is correct, Max," Dexter said. "The first was in the Darklands, and Jack found it. This was at approximately six in the morning. The second was at Pokey Oaks High at approximately ten-fifteen. The last five were dispatched simultaneously, arriving in Townsville Park, Leakey Lake, Candy Cove, Orchid Bay and Bellwood, the latter of which has been the only place Lord Fuse has been himself. That is all I know."

Ben squirmed in his seat, the girl across from him (his cousin, from what Edd knew) blinking rapidly. Max was, once again, the one who spoke up. "Bellwood was invaded by Fuse personally, yes. It is a very active area for Plumbers and he knew that. We don't know how, but he did. The place didn't leave many survivors with it. The other Plumbers are dealing with the aftermath. I only received the notification now." He held up a green and black badge.

The room was silent. Edd resisted the urge to hyperventilate. It had been no more than what? An hour and a bit at the most. Somewhere had already been consumed by this monstrosity of a planet. If the Cul-de-sac was attacked in the same way, he didn't know what he would do. His best friends, the rest of the kids in the Cul-de-sac, hell, even the damn Kankers - they could all be dead. He had to stop that from happening, no matter the cost to himself.

Even Dexter seemed shocked from this revelation. Nevertheless, he composed himself and continued. "We will try to help as much as we can, but we will definitely need assistance from other planets. Ben, you are in possession of a device called the Omnitrix, yes? I have only heard a bit about it, but it will be of great use to us."

"If the stupid thing actually  _worked_ ," Ben spat, glaring at a watch on his wrist. Edd assumed that was the Omnitrix. "Fuse is giving the thing interference."

"I'm sure I can help with that," Dexter said. "I may not have made the Omnitrix, but I'll see what I can do. Due to your knowledge, would you please be a leader in the resistance as well? Omnitrix or not, you are an important asset, and if Max gives the word they will listen to." Ben opened his mouth and pointed to Max. "I am not asking your grandfather because I am sure he has his own plans in mind, am I right?"

The older man nodded, smiling slightly. "I have a few plans for the Plumbers. The job is best suited to Ben."

"Alright then," Ben said. He sounded extremely exhausted. "But I don't take orders."

The girl looked at Dexter. "He really doesn't. Might want to be careful about that." She too sounded tired, and now that Edd could take a better look at her, he noticed her eyes were red.

Dexter smiled a little. "I'm aware. My last offer of leadership goes to Samurai Jack. You were the first to see these fusion spawns and you are wise in, regretfully, more ways than I am."

"I would be honoured, Dexter," Jack said, bowing his head. "Before you ask about what happened, I was indeed the first to spot the fusion spawns as you have named them. After my first encounter, I fought and won, but they had already taken away something - my sandal."

"Your sandal? Who in the underworld would want your sandal?" Grim asked, and Edd was taken aback. Who knew death could have a Jamaican accent?

Jack stayed perfectly still. "That I do not know, but they retreated for a while after that. I have been fighting them since they reappeared."

Dexter stretched his legs before sitting down. Athleticism was apparently not his strong suit. "I'm putting you in charge of the Darklands. You seem to have the most knowledge of the area, and we won't leave you alone there, of course. That would be irresponsible."

"Understood. Thank you, Dexter." The samurai bowed again.

"The rest of you are to be informed when other situations arise. While no particular position has been given to you, we will need your help to cooperate. Oh, but Grim, may I perhaps speak to you after this meeting? The Utoniums as well. There are some matters that must be touched on," Dexter said. "You are dismissed.

Edd rose obediently, thanking Dexter, while others (namely Mandy and Numbuh Four) mumbled expletives among chopped sentences on how Dexter wasn't the boss of them. Well, even if he wasn't, he certainly was the most organized. Edd wondered how he could strive to do the same for the rest of the Cul-de-sac as he walked out of the DexLabs building.


	3. Chapter 3

_January 14th - 7:46pm_

Him didn't journey to the Darklands much, and when he did it was for a good purpose. Or, to be more accurate, an  _evil_  purpose.

Personally, he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. There were places in this dang universe where he could come into contact with aliens, pretend he could make a deal with them, and then betray them and turn them into his slaves. He should have used this sort of method to take over Earth earlier. If only he could have beaten Fuse to it, but he always remembered what humans around him said: if you couldn't beat them, join them.

That was why he was as far away from civilization as possible, hiding in a nearby tree as he watched Fuse's minions create a sort of building. A lair, he guessed. He had made plenty of them in his time as a villain to know. He had seen Lord Fuse himself in Bellwood, looking on as he destroyed pretty much anything in his sights. His power, from what he had witnessed beforehand, had seemed gradual, but if he really put his mind to it he could cook up a storm. Him loved it and wanted to be a part of that. He wanted,  _needed_ , to destroy the Powerpuff Girls. One was already gone, but that wasn't enough.

He was going to join Lord Fuse. Naturally, he would start at the bottom ranks and kiss ass until he reached the top and take over. However, until then he would have to wait. If he was going to do this, he was going to go through the proper channels, also known as Lord Fuse himself. His drones probably couldn't even speak, so what was the point anyway?

It was at least half an hour before the man (well, alien) of the moment arrived, stomping out of the lair. He looked even more evil up close, much to Him's delight as he scurried down the tree and strode over to the invader. It was as if he was about to enter a business interview with fantastic credentials, cockiness and self-assurance radiating off of him.

"Lord Fuse, I presume?" he drawled in his flamboyant voice, a strange combination. "I am Him, villain extraordinaire. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help."

Fuse glared down at him and he began to falter a little as a minute passed. Without saying a word, Fuse swiped the pink stole from around Him's neck, making him shriek and touch the place it used to be.

"Just that." He clicked his fingers. "The minions will have you now."

Before Him could let out another word, Fuse has stormed back into his lair, leaving him to the minions. He looked around for a few seconds before running in the opposite direction, away from the minions coming after him. He was too angry to fight today. No, no, this  _Fuse_  was going to have the worst pain possible inflicted on him. It would be  _torture_. 

* * *

 

_January 14th - 8:36pm_

If you were to tell Blossom earlier that day that she would be making an alliance with Mojo Jojo of all people, well, she would have laughed directly in your face. Now, however, that was exactly what she was doing, and she just wanted to leave. If it had been last year, there wouldn't have been as many problems, but this was the villain who had supposedly killed her sister. She constantly reminded herself of that, but then she countered it by telling herself that Buttercup could still be alive. It was a constant vicious cycle, and she could tell the green monkey felt guilty, but that just wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough to bring Buttercup back.

That was how she thought as she watched her father and sister converse with Mojo, mainly her sister. Her father felt the same that she did, but he had managed to put it behind him for a few minutes at least. Bubbles was naturally upset, but all of her rage had gone for the time being. Now she just cried at night, whispering Buttercup's name in her sleep as she held Octi. That was the other part she couldn't forgive. Bubbles was most certainly more sensitive than others their age, but for her to be put through this was just cruel. It made her want to knock Mojo out of his own volcano.

"Isn't that right, Blossom?"

Her eyes snapped up. "Hmm?"

She saw the professor's strained smile. "Don't you think he should help out? With everything that has happened -"

"Yes, definitely." Her voice was louder than she intended. She sat on one of the couches and lowered her gaze to the floor as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She would not cry, she would not cry. She hadn't cried at all since Buttercup went missing, convincing herself that she needed to remain strong for the professor and her sister. Bottling everything up was not healthy, she truly knew that, but she needed to do it. If the cap of the bottle was blown of, so be it, but it couldn't be in front of her family.

Part of her wished Dexter hadn't set this up. He at least had the heart to understand it was a sensitive topic to them, but it was them that needed to do it. They were to pull the Buttercup card, guilt tripping him into helping. It was their best bet, but Blossom still didn't like it. Buttercup wasn't a tactic they could whip out whenever they wanted. She was a human being, a freaking _human being_. Just a girl who was probably lost somewhere in this world or worse - no, she wouldn't allow herself to finish that thought.

"Blossom?"

Her vision was blurry as she looked up towards her sister, and it was only then that she realized she had been crying. She gulped, trying to choke back the sobs, and it only barely worked. The professor moved towards her and put his hand on her shoulder. It was only then that it really hit her that her family had seen her crying, seen her showing that weakness, and so she bolted out the door and flew into the dark sky.

The wind whipped around her as she moved at high speeds, zooming around buildings until she managed to lift off properly, sailing through the sky. She didn't look back, only vaguely aware of her surroundings as she soared. Once she was far enough away, she decided to land on the first thing she saw, which happened to be a red boat. She figured she would be on the sea, which wasn't exactly safe, but she was willing to take her chanced. To her surprise, when the cloud parted she was at the top of the Sector V tree-house. Oh, right, they had a boat in their tree.

After discerning that she was alone, she let her tears come out full force, opening the flood gates. Knowing that the residents of the tree-house may be in there, she still tried to keep her voice down, but her sobs were too strong. She mentally slapped herself, but that didn't stop her at all, so she actually did slap herself, instantly regretting it.

"Get it together, Blossom," she muttered to herself between hiccups.

"You know that talking to yourself is the first sign of craziness, right?"

Blossom shot up, narrowly avoiding a thick branch. Below her was Numbuh Five, twirling her hat around her finger as she jumped into the boat with ease. "Oh, hello, Numbuh Five."

"I'm off duty, Bloss. It's just Abby right now," Abby said, gesturing for her to sit down in front of her. "Now c'mon and tell Abby what's up."

Hesitantly, Blossom drifted so she was in front of the teen operative, sitting cross legged as the cold wind blew her hair around her face. "Well, you know about Buttercup, right? Well, I always bottled everything up for the sake of the professor and Bubbles, but when we had to talk to Mojo Jojo about the villain alliance or whatever that's supposed to be, well, I just kind of broke." Her voice cracked on the last word as she wiped her eyes. "I mean, she's my sister and he did that to her and - and I'm supposed to suddenly get along with him? We have to use Buttercup as some sort of tool to make him feel guilty so he'll rally all the villains to help us. That's just not fair."

Tears cascaded freely now, and Abby patted her leg in comfort. Minutes passed them by as she cried, and once she was done she apologized profusely. "I'm supposed to be a leader. I really shouldn't react like this."

Abby shrugged. "You're only human. A super-powered human, but still a human." There was a pause, but it was comfortable. "Abby has a sister, y'know."

"Really?" Blossom was truly surprised. This was new to her. Then again, she had only really come into contact with Abby a little while ago. "I didn't know that."

"Abby don't talk about her much. We didn't get along a lot back in the day. I was in the Kids Next Door and she was a Teen Ninja, which were basically one of our arch nemesis's. She's at college now and she's given up her old lifestyle, but there's still some sort of animosity there on my part. I mean, she doesn't know I'm still part of the Kids Next Door in a technical sense, so she's nicer. I do miss what we used to be like though," Abby said, trailing off. "Abby knows it ain't the same as what you're going through, but when I was seven it felt like I lost a sister too."

In all honesty, Blossom didn't know which situation was worse - knowing and loving everything about your sister and having an understandable reaction when they left you unwillingly or looking up to a sister who then betrayed you and became your enemy. They both gave you the same feeling, so she figured they were both equal.

"What your feeling isn't the same. It's worse. I mean, at least I know Buttercup will never betray me unless, I dunno, mind control happens or something," Blossom said, forcing a small chuckle out.

A little more silence passed, and once again Abby was the one to break it. "Wanna come in? Abby makes some wicked hot chocolate."

Blossom smiled. "Sure."

* * *

 

_January 14th - 8:57pm_

Mandark did not like to be disturbed. All he needed was his science to function. As much as Planet Fusion was dangerous, he secretly thanked the intruders for invading as he now had a reason to be stuck in his laboratory, only leaving for basic needs. Even then he could simply summon his Mandroids to do stuff for him, such as prepare food and mind his laboratory when he needed a quick bathroom break. Nothing could be left unguarded, especially with DexLabs right across the way. Hopefully, no one from over there would disturb him -

"Hi, Mandark!"

Ah, that lovely voice. That was the only thing missing from his beloved laboratory.

"Hello, Dee Dee, what a pleasant surprise, I -"

He stopped short when he saw the red head next to his crush, his expressions completely different from her smile. It seemed that, despite being there with her, he didn't want to be. His posture was stiff, matching Mandark, who had tensed up as soon as he saw his rival. His lovestruck face fell and he glared.

"What are  _you_  doing here?"

Dexter shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Really, Mandark, that's a stupid question. I know you already know about Planet Fusion at this point. The entire Earth is in jeopardy and we will need your assistance. That is, if you will cooperate. Trust is not expected, nor will it probably be returned, but we need to combine both DexLabs and Mandark Industries for this cause. You are one of the only other people with the same genius as me, regrettably, but it is true nonetheless. I'm not asking for complete access to everything you own, either. All I propose is that we share information considering Planet Fusion's resistance."

Mandark couldn't believe what he was hearing. Dexter was asking him to work with him and his fantastic company.  _Dexter_ , of all people. "And what if I don't want to? We aren't exactly best buddies, after all."

"Please, Mandark?" The plea came from Dee Dee, her blue eyes widening and even tearing up. "We might all die. We need your help."

As much as he wanted to resist, he couldn't refuse Dee Dee. "Alright. Alright, fine. Truce."

Dexter held out his hand and Mandark took it, shaking it once before melodramatically swirling his cape. "Well, now that that's done, what do you need? I know you wouldn't come over here and ask me for a truce without already having something in mind."

"You know me too well." Dexter looked at Dee Dee. "Uh, do you wish Dee Dee to leave, or -"

"No!" Mandark cut in a little too quickly. "No, she can stay. If she wants."

Dee Dee took this as an invitation to look around his laboratory. Luckily, this was only his viewing room and nothing destructive was around. It should be safe enough, though Dee Dee could be unpredictable sometimes. Mandark watched as she twirled around with ease as if she had been doing it all her life, and knowing her she probably had.

Dexter coughed, gaining his attention. "Once you're done staring at my sister, I would like to talk to you about weapons and such."

"Weapons?"

"Yes, Mandark. Weapons. You know, the things that go 'boom' and 'pew'." Dexter moved over so he was next to the viewing screens. Security camera footage was showing on one side of the mass of screens while the other viewed various areas of their world. It wasn't something Mandark used on a regular basis, and the one place he wanted to see (DexLabs, what else?) was a place he couldn't put his cameras due to high security. "That's quite a sneaky thing you've got here."

Mandark walked over, standing next to the red head. "I'm glad I did now. It may help somewhat with this whole invasion thing. I don't have the everywhere, of course. Mainly places in the Wilds and Darklands, places where you wouldn't expect to see cameras. If I needed footage of the Downtown area, there are other cameras I could hack into." Wanting to take the topic away from his own inventions, he faced Dexter. "Now, what were you saying about weapons?"

"Straight to the point. Good." Dexter adjusted his glasses. "We first need to find out what will keep these fusion monsters at bay. Do they have a weakness, what are they resistant to, things like this. For now, lasers and such will have to do the trick. I assume you are able to mass produce weapons such as these? Don't make them overly complicated. We will need to release them to the public."

"Naturally," Mandark said, smirking. "Lasers I can do. I suppose we'll need some sort of war machines too, for the big battles."

"Yes," Dexter said, supporting his head with his hand. "But we already have a number of those, and we'll probably be the only ones using them. They're too complicated, and we can't let someone with no brain capacity handle one. That's not our priority. I was thinking along the lines of a sort of aid in battle for regular heroes along with their weapons." Mandark recognised him enter his deep thought process. "Yes, yes, I'll think about it some more. Oh, and I thought you may want this." He produced a test tube full of green liquid. "Fusion matter."

"Fusion matter?"

"Yes, the green acid that oozes from Planet Fusion and the terrafusers - the green pod things. It's taking over the cities and the habitats, which reminds me I need to close the most infected areas off to avoid complete coverage." He placed the tube on Mandark's desk, in front of the screen. "I found out the basics - its origin, the way it works, but you may look for any weaknesses. We'll need them. I'll come back once I've figured out my plan."

Without another word, he left through the automatic doors. The only sound in there now was Dee Dee gushing over how high-tech the place was. It was as if she had never been in a laboratory before, but Mandark knew that was far from the truth. The way everything always looked new to her was endearing. It was one of the things he liked about her if he was being honest, but now that they were older he had half given up hope about her returning his affections. It didn't stop him from trying, however. Maybe he would win over her someday if he really, really wished it.

For now, it was time to work on this fusion matter. He turned back towards the screens and - what was that at Hero's Hollow? Something yellow-ish, running in circles. He guessed it was just another of Fuse's minions, but something about it stuck in the back of his mind. He pushed the thought away for now, returning to the test tube and taking it to his actual laboratory, making sure to take Dee Dee with him so he could keep an eye on her.

* * *

 

_January 14th - 9:39pm_

The atmosphere was heavier than Nigel Uno remembered. He had flown near Earth many times before, and most of the time it felt the same and he could concentrate on his nostalgia, but today was different. Green clouded his vision, and it was hard to see as he attempted to pilot his spaceship. He was his sector's leader, not the pilot, so the ride was a little bumpier than usual. He could only just see the landing place of Offworld Plaza and wasted no time in typing in the coordinates, letting the autopilot guide the way down.

With nothing else to do, he moved to the screen beside his map and attempted to contact Moonbase again. It was what? The eighteenth time he tried? There was still no response, and he was very worried now. Then again, they probably had their hands full with the invasion. That still wasn't a reason, though. He should have been able to get through.

He didn't have time to worry about it, though, as the ship landed and he had to collect his belongings and leave. His trunk was strapped down to one of the vacant seats, and it took him good few minutes to untie the knots. When he was finished, he exited the ship and immediately dodged out of the way. Green fusion matter had somehow landed on his ship and the rest of the space station. He was honestly lucky to have gotten out of there when he did.

"Hey!"

Nigel looked in the direction of the voice, watching as a red haired girl ran up to him, something pink in both her hands. As she got closer, he noticed they were some sort of powers, and so he took out a 2x4 technology gun and pointed it at her. They stood there, staring each other down until she spoke.

"And you are?"

"I should ask you that."

More silence. Then she said, "Gwen Tennyson, anodite and Plumber."

Nigel had heard of the Plumbers. Since they were mainly comprised of teenagers and, more commonly, adults, the Galactic Kids Next Door didn't associate with them much. There were a few Plumbers kids in the organization, however, so sometimes their knowledge was used for missions, especially when the sector in charge didn't have much knowledge on a planet or species. Nigel, being who he was, didn't trust them completely, but he was willing to put that aside for now. He hadn't been to his home planet in years, after all.

"Nigel Uno, also known as Numbuh One of the Galactic Kids Next Door, previous member of Sector V," he introduced, realizing she must have been waiting for an answer.

"Oh, yes, I've heard of you," Gwen said, and her pink magic disappeared. "Sorry about that. We just need to be careful with the whole Fuse thing."

"Understood," Nigel said. "Uh, how exactly have you heard of me?"

Gwen motioned for him to walk with her, so he picked up his bag and followed her down the sloped concrete. "A few hours ago Dexter - I'm sure you'll meet him later - had a meeting with a bunch of people. Sector V was there and I spoke to one of them, Numbuh Five I believe. She mentioned you a couple of times."

Numbuh Five? But that was impossible. She should be decommissioned by now. He was glad to hear that she wasn't, of course, but it was still confusing for him to hear. "I see. We were childhood friends. It's the same with the rest of my sector. So how are things going with the invasion?"

"I suppose that's why you're here," Gwen guessed. "It only happened this morning, but one place is already gone." Her tone was light, but it was forced. Nigel knew it took one to know one, so he also knew he shouldn't question her about it. "Leaders have been put in place. Dexter is one, rightly so considering he's a genius and the most organized out of all of us. My cousin Ben is one since he's had experience with aliens and has the charisma to gather plumbers. Blossom has been the leader of the Powerpuff Girls since she was five and is very intelligent, Samurai Jack is an experienced fighter despite being from another time period entirely. Numbuh Five is the last leader, and I suppose I don't need to tell you why she was chosen."

Nigel smiled to himself. "No, you don't. Is there any way I can see my sector soon? I -"

"Numbuh One!"

Speak of the devils.

Nigel didn't even have time to brace himself, dropping his luggage as he was absorbed by green. Even after all this time, Kuki hadn't changed. He smiled and hugged her back as she cried tears of joy (or at least he hoped they were tears of joy), silently taking in his surroundings. Hoagie looked like his face was going to fall off from grinning and Wally was shocked, his expression somewhere between happiness and surprise. It was quite amusing. Abby was hanging back, her hat covering her eyes and a smirk on her face.

"I missed you, Numbuh One!" Kuki cried, finally letting go of him.

Hoagie ran up, Wally at his heels, and the two of them had a 'bro hug' with him. Hoagie cheered while Wally was showing his affection the only way he really knew how: "Don't you ever do that to us again, Numbuh One! Ya cruddy, no good, awesome leader!"

After they let go, Abby pulled him into a short hug, putting something on his face in the process - his sunglasses. He had missed his shades and it felt nice to have them back on as well as knowing Abby had kept them for all this time. He watched her flick the brim of her cap up, showing him her tears.

"Abby missed ya."

Surprisingly, it was Wally who got down to business first. "I suppose you're not just here for a reunion though, right?"

"Affirmative, Numbuh Four. Though I would prefer to speak about it back at your base. Or something. How do you remember everything anyway?" Nigel asked.

Hoagie patted his back. "Teen agents. And our base is still the tree-house. It's gone through a few modifications, of course, but it's still basically the same. It floats now."

"You're kidding." Nigel turned back to Gwen for a second. "Thanks, Gwen. See you later."

She waved at him as he saluted. He was ready and eager to return home.


	4. Chapter 4

_January 15th - 3:40am_

Marie didn't even bat an eyelid when the door to their family trailer opened and shut with a bang, revealing her older sister. It wasn't uncommon for Lee to be wandering around at night, the way she would party all night or terrorize people until they couldn't take it anymore. Marie was somewhat past that stage of intense bullying herself, but she had taken on the persona tonight to weasel information out of anybody and everybody she came across.

"Did you find her?" she asked as Lee as the curly haired girl sat on the couch. The answer was obvious by the look on her face.

"Yes and no."

Marie raised an eyebrow. Not what she had been expecting. "What the hell, Lee? It can't be both, idiot."

Lee smacked her in the head, making her wince. "Yes it can, now shut up and listen! I ran into the little ginger twerp and her little brace face boyfriend. Said something about big Ed runnin' off in the direction of the Wilds while May chased him. I guess they're both somewhere over there."

"And you didn't notice May running off how? You were right there when it happened," Marie scolded. Sometimes she wondered who exactly was the oldest sibling.

"That's more than I can say for you, Marie. You didn't even come with us. Didn't you want to see your beloved sockhead?" Lee said, kicking off her shoes and sticking them on the table.

Marie crinkled her nose at the sudden odor. "I've decided to take a less hands on approach, if you will. I don't have the best brains of us for nothing, ya know. Besides, didn't you tell me before that he wasn't there? There wouldn't have been much point in me going. Too boring. No, Imma work on my master plan."

"Master plan? Care to share, Marie?" Lee said as Marie started cleaning up the trailer (the first time in a month, probably).

"Nope," Marie said. Her yellow-ish teeth showed clearly when she smiled. "Not for now, anyway. Shouldn't we be focusing on May? It's her own damn fault for being an idiot, but we can't just leave her out there to get mauled by, I dunno, a drop bear or somethin'."

"What the hell is a drop bear?" Lee positioned herself so she was completely lying on their small sofa.

Marie's smile grew wider. "This is why I'm the brains of this operation, Lee."

"Well, May can take care of herself. She got her butt into this mess so she can get herself out of it."

"Whatever."

The trailer was silent for a while save for the television and the clatter of the dishes as Marie washed up. Only a few years had passed since the three of them were in junior high, and if you were to ask the rest of the kids in Peach Creek, nothing had changed when it came to the Kankers. They didn't know what happened on the inside, though. Being who they were, they had a few dramas here and there. Custody issues, step-father drama, things like that. Their mother, still angry and bitter when it came to men, had told them that they were big enough to handle themselves now and was away from the trailer constantly. The only constant in their lives was each other and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the Cul-de-sac kids.

That was why Marie  _attempted_  (that was they keyword there) to back off from them, but old habits died hard. She was aggressive, and didn't she know it, but now that she wasn't such a child she had opened her eyes to sneakier methods of gaining attention. She wasn't the only one who had changed. From what she noticed from afar, Sarah had mellowed out a little and Jonny was less, well, strange. Plank was still in the picture, but she had seen less and less of him in the last few months. They were still scared of her though, and she would be the first to admit she got a secret kick out of that.

"Hey, Marie! Get your ass over here!" Lee called from the living area (it wasn't really big enough to be called a room).

"What are you yappin' about, Lee?" Marie shouted, placing the last couple of plates in the cabinet.

"The Eds are doin' something again!"

At the mention of their three favourite boys, Marie forgot about draining the sink and ran to the door where Lee now was. Sure enough, something was going on at the Cul-de-sac, and it wasn't hard to see at all. Cardboard boxes were in the process of being stacked up, surrounding the area. They were past the trees at this point, leaving the two sisters without any view of the Cul-de-sac. In the distance, they could see Rolf leading some Urban Rangers around the perimeter, shouting something inaudible.

"What the hell? Does this have something to do with what happened at school today?" Marie asked. "They shouldn't take it that seriously, geez."

Lee didn't listen, pinching the skin on her arm and dragging her out the trailer door. "C'mon, Marie! Time for a cookout!"

Marie yanked her arm back, rubbing the now red skin. "I think you mean stakeout, Lee. May's been rubbin' off on you."

"Shut it."

The two continued to argue as quietly as they could (an almost impossible feat for a Kanker) as they traveled through the park and to the entrance to the Cul-de-sac where they stopped short. The cardboard boxes were stacked high now, but that wasn't what they were amazed about. Two large pieces of wood were acting as a door system, the crack between them only big enough to let someone through. The two 'doors' had faces on them, resembling Plank.

"What the hell is this?" Marie asked as if she was looking at something disgusting. "They're closing off the Cul-de-sac? How dare they!"

Lee's grin was anything but kind. "Let's smash it in."

"No." Lee looked at Marie, shocked. "I have a better way. More fulfilling than smashing a couple of boxes."

* * *

 

_January 15th - 9:32am_

"Don't disturb my beauty sleep, Grim."

Even in the face of an alien invasion, Mandy didn't blink an eye. Considering everything she had gone through in terms of the Underworld and the supernatural, this felt like a piece of cake to her. Sleep was not to be interrupted, her parents still had to cater to her every whim, and Grim was still basically her slave. If it was up to her, Fuse would be in her hands if only so she could crush him, but that would take time.

"But Billy's made a peculiar friend, Mandy." Grim's skull shifted so it looked like he was smiling. "Maybe it'll keep him occupied - or better, maybe it will kill him."

Realizing she wasn't about to get much sleep if Billy was around as well, Mandy climbed out of bed and yawned. She had slept in her clothes after going to sleep at four in the morning, too tired to much except crash onto her bed. Usually she had plenty of sleep, but alien invaders didn't really have the common courtesy to care about sleeping schedules.

"Make this quick, Grim. I have to go and make sure the 'villains' are doing their part soon," she said, taking the lead as she stomped throughout her house and to the front door where she could hear Billy shouting. "What did Dexter want to talk to you about, anyway? You didn't come back for hours."

"Dat's a secret. It didn't actually take that long. Dexter needed me to lab sit for him," Grim said, opening the front door for her as she always expected him to do.

Overnight, Endsville hadn't changed too much from the invasion, but there was a commotion coming from up the street. Probably from the power plant, Mandy guessed. That would have to come later, though. Right now, she would have to focus on the idiot on her front lawn, playing with - was that a fusion spawn?

"Billy, where did you get that disgusting thing?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Billy looked sincerely hurt. "Don't say that! Runty might hear you!" He turned to the green monster. "Don't worry about Mandy, Runty! She's just a meanie weenie."

"This wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be." Mandy looked up the road where she could still hear people shouting. "Maybe this will satisfy my craving for horror. Hopefully this invasion will provide that."

Not bothering to wait for Grim or Billy to reply, she strode up the street to the top of the hill. A crowd had gathered at the gates, but Mandy managed to force people to make a pathway for her. People had gotten used to Grim around Endsville, but Mandy herself on the other hand was able to influence others into doing her bidding with a single glare. Being scarier than death himself was something Mandy prided herself on.

"What's going on?" she asked to nobody in particular.

"Sounds like those green pod things are here again," came a voice Mandy recognized.

"Hello, Irwin." Mandy gave the boy a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Those 'green pod things' are called terrafusers, just so you know."

Irwin had a dreamy look in his eyes. "Always so knowledgeable. But, uh, how do you know that, Mandy?"

"Us three were at a meeting with Dexter last night. We heard the information then. I figured something like this would happen sooner rather than later, but why haven't the monsters spawned yet? From what you told me, Mandy, it happens pretty quickly," Grim said, stroking his bony chin. "It does seem pretty odd."

Mandy looked at the terrafuser. It was bigger than the other one she had seen the previous day, leaking Fusion matter, but no monsters were spawning from it. It didn't take too long for her to remember what Max had said during their meeting.

_"The bigger ones are to spread Fusion matter, also known as the green substance surrounding the place. Apparently, those haven't been sent down yet, but it's only a matter of time."_

It seemed that the time had come.

Grabbing Grim's scythe out of his hand, she pushed her way to the very front of the power plant, earning most people's attention. She cleared her throat loudly so the rest would see her. "Get away from the power plant, you ignoramuses. That green thing there is a terrafuser, and if you don't move you could become infected. Now go. Shoo. Scatter! I don't want to see any of you people here again unless I allow you to be here." She moved the scythe so it flashed dangerously in the morning sunlight. "Got that?"

And sure enough, people ran in all different directions. Even if Mandy hadn't been given the job of keeping the citizens away she would have done it if only to inspect the place herself, and she was about to suggest that to Billy, Grim, and Irwin (the only people left) when an annoying accent interrupted her train of thought.

"Thank you, Mandy. You've made my job a lot easier."

The four of them turned to see Dexter, holding a stack of blue cones in one hand and a button in the other. Mandy rose an eyebrow at him in question, but she didn't receive any answers as he started placing the cones around the perimeter of the nuclear plant. Due to its large area, he didn't emerge from behind it for five minutes, at which point he was a little out of breath. After placing the last cone down, he returned to them, covering his mouth as he coughed.

"I do not have the athleticism for this task," he said, but he didn't sound angry about it. It was more of an observation.

He pressed the button and they all watched as a force field shot up around the nuclear plant. At least Mandy assumed it was a force field. You could never be sure with Dexter and his inventions, something she had figured out from being in the same homeroom class as him. The amount of times he had blown up their classroom was too many to count on one hand, and even if she gave him some snarky comments afterwards, nothing every changed. She wouldn't even be surprised if those force fields exploded either.

"Dexter. What are these for?"

"To keep the infection from spreading of course," Dexter said. "These terrafusers showed up overnight and I've been working to contain the infection. I started with Downtown and only just got to the Suburbs. So many places, so little time. I am not looking forward to the Darklands, though. Even the Wilds sound too outdoorsy for me."

Grim's gaze was still on the force field (at least Mandy assumed it was as it was hard to tell when he didn't have eyes). "How are we supposed to get in and out, though. We probably won't even need to, but just in case."

"I already have it covered." Dexter took out something resembling a small communication device, speaking into it. "Okay, girls."

Mandy didn't even have the chance to ask before a shadow loomed over them, revealing two circular objects. Blossom and Bubbles were carrying both of them to the entrance of the nuclear plant, setting them down on either side of the force field. They both looked the same, appearing to be a platform with a blue robot on it. The poor androids looked scared, but all Mandy could do was give props to Dexter for making them feel the pain of humans. Pain was a beautiful thing.

"There you go, Dexter!" Bubbles chirped, floating over to them. "Hi, Mandy! Hi, Billy! Hi, Irwin!"

"Hello, Bubbles." Mandy wasn't very well acquainted with Bubbles, mainly because of the blue Powerpuff's positive attitude to absolutely everything.

Blossom was the one who noticed their questioning faces first. "This is a warp portal. All you have to do is talk to the Dexbot - those blue robots - and you'll be teleported into the Infected Zone."

Dexter looked at the girls and tapped his watch.

"We can't stay, sorry! Life is so busy." Bubbles flashed her a grin as she and her sister picked up Dexter and flew in the direction of Habitat Homes.

Mandy sighed. This invasion was more trouble than it was worth.

* * *

 

_January 15th - 12:04pm_

"Are you shittin' me?" Wally yelled. "I don't wanna go to some cruddy jungle! I should be on the front lines, kicking Fuse's butt!"

Kuki had a different outlook on the matter, which angered Wally even more. "Come on, Wally! It'll be fun!"

Despite Nigel returning to his home planet, Abby was still their leader since she had more experience as a teen operative. Besides, Nigel needed to get used to Earth again. It had changed quite a bit over the past few years, no matter how much politics tried to deny it. Right now, though, Wally wished they didn't even have a leader. He didn't want to be told what to do, where to fight, who his partner in each mission would be.

Hoagie gave him a knowing smirk. "Yeah, Wally. It'll be fun with just you two. Maybe you'll get that quarter back."

Wally groaned as everyone else but Kuki started laughing. Damn these teammates of his.

"Fine, fine, I'll go, dammit. Just let me get my things and we'll be gone, 'kay?"

He stormed into his room, which hadn't changed too much over the years, and grabbed a bag. He packed the essentials - clothes, hygiene products, badass boxing gloves. You couldn't go wrong with boxing gloves after all, even if they just barely fit over his clothes. There wasn't any organization to how he packed his things, but that was just how he liked it. As long as he knew where everything was, what was the problem? Everything would be all over his new room within a day of them being there anyway.

 _New room_. Wally didn't like the sound of that. The outpost was meant for actual Kids Next Door operatives, but with them focusing on Moonbase and missions within their own territories, it was handed to the teenagers. That meant he would probably be in a room made for someone else, someone who was probably going to have a better time and actually be focused on Fuse like he should be. Abby was on the front lines, Hoagie's job was basically to help with anti-Fuse technology and the like, and Nigel was able to give information on other planets to the people who mattered. He and Kuki were stuck in a dead end job that really had nothing to do with Fuse other than one stupid Infected Zone, whatever that was. Maybe Kuki would enjoy the animals at least.

Kuki got on his nerves just as she did when they were ten, but all the same he still felt the same about her. His feelings were probably even stronger now that they were older, but he didn't know whether that was good or bad. She made him feel so good whenever she laughed at something he did, but it just made the hurt so much worse whenever she was angry or upset with him. He blamed it on his stupid teenage hormones, but he knew there was no getting around it. Just as Hoagie said, maybe it would be fun with just the two of them.

"Wally, are you ready?"

The girl that consumed his thoughts appeared at the doorway, as cheerful as ever with two bags slung over her shoulder, orange Rainbow Monkey in her arms. How many of those things was she going to bring?

"Got enough Rainbow Monkeys?" he asked, carrying his own bags to the door with ease. Being the hand-to-hand combat officer had its perks when it came to strength training. "We don't need a tree house full of those things."

Kuki giggled. "I only have this one."

"Why that one?"

"'Cause it's orange," the girl replied as if it explained everything. Whatever the reason, it wasn't obvious to Wally at all.

They made their way through the tree-house and back to the main room where the other three were waiting for them. Hoagie was too occupied to notice them come in, staring at the screens meant for interaction between the other planets within the Solar System and the moon. He had been trying since last night, but nothing had worked. Even Nigel hadn't been able to reach them.

"You guys ready?" Abby asked before turning to their technology officer. "Come on, Hoagie, let's get this goin'!"

"Huh?" A bewildered expression crossed his face. "Oh, yeah. Let's go."

They began walking towards the area the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. was, but they were rudely interrupted by a glowing light. Turning back around, Wally dropped his bags and instantly entered a defense position, staring in wait for something to come through the white circle that had formed in the middle of the room. They could hear shouting on the other end before people started falling through, landing on their floor in a pile one by one. There was a whole heap of them, something you would expect to see when a bus reached its last stop and a bunch of people just filed out.

The portal closed as quickly as it had come, leaving the visitors to look around in confusion. One of them, a boy with a white hat, looked at his dog.

"I don't think we're in Ooo anymore, Jake."


	5. Chapter 5

_January 15th - 4:20pm_

Mojo Jojo had become addicted to staring through his telescope. He had always liked doing it before, for leisure, but now that he had a purpose in doing it his eye had become glued to the view finder. Since he had made an uneasy alliance with the heroes of the world he lived in, he figured he may as well do what he could without having to actually interact with them on a daily basis. If staring at Planet Fusion twenty-four seven was the way to do that, then so be it.

So far, he had figured out that the green planet moved, albeit slowly. You would have to wait a day to see even the smallest change, but it was there. It rotated on its axis, just as the Earth did, but it happened a lot faster, so fast that he had managed to see it circle around completely once. He wondered how time worked on there. Did a year pass in that one day? Or was it something different entirely? He found it fascinating, even though he would probably never find out. It wasn't as if he could just go up there and ask.

"Mojo, darling, you really need to stop staring at that  _disgusting little planet_."

"Yeah, like, seriously. You're being such a loser right now."

Of course, he couldn't do anything without a comment from the peanut gallery.

"For what purpose are you in my volcano, the volcano that belongs to me?" he asked, turning around on his chair.

Him grabbed a single piece of popcorn in his claw, eating it as a devilish grin broke out on his face. "Because it's so lovely up here. Such a nice and high view. You don't get that from my lair."

"Same. I mean, I could always ask daddy to build me another skyscraper, bigger than this one, but that would take  _forever_." Princess slumped down in her seat on the luxurious couch.

Mojo Jojo was about to tell them to at least be quiet when the elevator chimed, signalling that someone had entered his volcano without permission. He really needed to put a lock on that thing, but it was kind of hard when the entire thing was made out of artificial rock and dirt.

The door opened to reveal Mandy, a girl Mojo had only heard of in passing, mainly by Princess who complained about her lack of morals. Knowing Princess, what she really meant was that Mandy didn't bow down to her every passing second. Regardless, he had heard other things. Rumours floated around that she was some sort of devil spawn, some said she had no heart and/or soul. Every rumour was more ridiculous than the last, but by the look on her face he couldn't tell if any of them were true or not. Her impassiveness was a skill he wished to master.

"Oh, good, you're all here. Except for that pink muppet, but he's going to be harder to deal with anyway." She took the liberty of sitting on an armchair opposite the couch, once again without permission. Did these people not have any manners?"

"What the hell, Mandy? Why are you here?" Princess asked, her nose turning up in disgust.

If Mandy was bothered by this, she didn't show it. "I'm here to make sure the villains do their job. And before you ask why me, that's because I'm probably the closest 'good guy' to a villain you can probably get. Though personally, I don't think I'm either. So how about where you want to be stationed? I understand that you all agreed to help, so it's much appreciated."

"Stationed?" Mojo was  _not_  going to be taken away from his home. "I shall remain here, thank you very much as this is my home and I would prefer not to be stationed or set anywhere else other than said home."

Mandy shrugged. "Fair enough, but you can't all stay here. We don't want any conspiring now, do we?"

Princess rolled her eyes and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "I guess I can go and stay at Townsville Centre. I mean, may as well go shopping while I'm saving the world."

"Hmm, I want somewhere creepy, but not in the Wilds or Darklands. I need civilization to keep up this hairdo," Him said. "Are there any places like that you recommend, Miss Mandy?"

"Endsville can get pretty freaky pretty fast. I'm not just saying that because I live there either. You may have to deal with Billy though. You'll need a lot of patience," Mandy said, watching Princess pretend to vomit at the sound of Billy's name. "Can you handle it?"

Him smirked. "Is that a challenge I smell?"

"Maybe."

"Challenge accepted, then."

Mojo was relieved. At least the two nuisances would be leaving his volcano for a while. They may have been the closest thing he had to friends, but he was an evil genius. He didn't think he needed friends. He was about to tell them to leave when another voice was added to the fray.

"Oh my glob, where's the cell reception out here? I need to talk to Brad."

Mojo looked out the open window of his volcano and came face to face with a purple something. It had sounded like a girl, sort of, but the way it spoke was the only indication that it was a girl. She was pressing the buttons of her phone, trying to get it to work. He had to clear his throat to get her attention, though he wasn't really sure he wanted to.

"What are you and what are you doing at my, Mojo Jojo's, volcano?" he asked, opening his window some more. He didn't want that thing hovering around outside.

" _I_  am Lumpy Space Princess." She sat down between Him and Princess, digging in to the popcorn bowl. "Princess of Lumpy Space. My friends and I ended up coming here because Princess Bubblegum accidentally let a time portal go loose and we ended up in the past. Now I can't get any lumpin' service! So, like, who are you?"

Before Mojo could run off on his usual tangent, Mandy replied. "I'm Mandy. The devil person over there is Him - literally, that's actually his name - and the ginger bimbo is Princess Morbucks. Mojo Jojo is the one who owns the volcano. They're all super villains, I'm just your average school girl."

Princess scoffed. "Average school girl my ass."

"Well, whatever. Do you know where I can get some cell service up in here?" LSP asked, almost crushing her phone with the way she was holding it. "Like, do I need a new phone or something? 'Cause that's, like, so inconvenient. I need to call Brad like right now and tell him where I am! Maybe he can come get me somehow."

"That doesn't seem probable, likely. In fact it is probably unlikely," Mojo said, taking up an air of arrogance. Really, if they came through a time portal it would be hard to get it open again.

LSP rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I just need a lumpin' phone!"

Mandy looked at Princess. "You're going to Townsville Centre, aren't you? Just go and pick up a new phone for her. You're a rich bitch after all."

Having spent enough time with her over the years, Mojo knew when Princess was swallowing down rage. It was something she would probably have to do for most of this invasion, but knowing her she would lash out at the first person who crossed her. As long as it wasn't him, though, Mojo was fine with it.

"Fine," Princess said through gritted teeth. "I'll go. Him, don't you need to get that new bubble bath you wanted?" She batted her eyelashes at him.

"Wait, what -"

Before any of them could say another word, Princess had flown out the door with Him in one arm and LSP in the other. Him had decided not to struggle, Mojo saw, embracing his inevitable doom as LSP screamed at the top of her lungs about "My lumps!"

"Good, they're gone. I need to talk to you about something."

Mojo turned back to Mandy, sitting back down by the sofa and picking up the popcorn and munching on what was left. If he didn't know any better (which he didn't, really), he would have thought Mandy was smirking a little. She had heard she never smiled, but they never said anything about smirking, and even if she was it was extremely small, a tiny detail on her unblemished face. He watched as she looked him up and down as if studying him, which she probably was, before he spoke.

"Well, what is it? If you need to speak, to talk, to clarify, please do so now." He didn't have time for this.

"What are you planning?" Mandy asked casually.

Mojo blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"You're a villain. I know villains. I basically have the mindset of one. Sure, maybe you agreed to help the force against Fuse or whatever, but you wouldn't abandon a chance to take over the world now, would you?" Mandy propped her face up with her hand as if bored and tired all at once. "You were guilt tripped into leading the villains but hey, let me guess, you thought if you lead the villains some could could come out of that. You can use them if you really want to." She paused. "But you think you're above that, don't you?"

Damn, this girl was insightful. But it was also possible for him to use her. "And if that's true? What use would this information be to you, you who refrains from calling herself a villain yet acts like one?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

' _Bring it on_ ,' Mojo thought.

* * *

 

_January 15th - 5:34pm_

Mac was absolutely and undeniably lost.

He had followed Coco's eggs into the Wilds a day ago, finding her at an abandoned camp somewhat close to Fosters. Even if it was close, he found that he couldn't get back, and Coco was no help at all in her panicked sate. She would jump at the slightest noise and run further into the dense forest, much to his annoyance, and he was surprised that no one had heard them by this point. It may have been the Wilds, but there surely had to be some people, right? An alien invasion had to have people manning all areas, or at least that was what he had learned from his comic books and action movies.

Soon enough, he had found himself at a clearing of sorts, a large tree in the middle. There were some exotic looking plants around some trees with small tree-houses in them. There didn't seem to be any sign of civilization, however. The entire place was abandoned, or maybe it hadn't been lived in at all. That was just his luck, wasn't it?

"Coco cococo!"

His stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry too, Coco. Do you reckon you could pop out some food from those eggs of yours?"

Coco got into her egg laying position, making a face of pure concentration, but in the end she deflated and sat down. "Cocococo, coco coco."

"It's okay. I'm too tired to do much either," Mac sighed, leaning against the tree behind him.

"Peanut butter and jelly?"

Mac sat up in a hurry, looking around for the source of the voice. He didn't see anyone in front or behind him, concerning him. Coco looked as confused as he felt, but he didn't have time to dwell on that as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he found his answer in the form of a boy hanging from a tree, a vacant look in his eyes as he held out a moldy sandwich.

"Uh, no thanks," he said. "Coco?"

Coco gobbled it up with one bite.

The boy laughed. "Pretty birdie."

"Uh, who are you and why are hanging upside down from a tree?" Mac asked. Despite the boy looking older than him, he figured he wouldn't be able to act like it. "I'm Mac by the way, and this is Coco."

"Cococo, cococo coco cocococo!"

The boy fell down on his head, but he didn't seemed fazed at all. Spinning around on his head, he grinned at Mac. "I'm Ed, king of the jungle!" He was putting on a very badly done posh accent, and the way his voice sounded didn't help things at all.

At the very least, he seemed nice. Mac thought he had seen him somewhere before, and that was when he had remembered hearing about 'The Eds' as they were called. Two of the kids in his grade, Jimmy and Sarah, spoke about them all the time, and apparently Sarah was one of their little sisters. He thought the stories were interesting, but a little far fetched. Now that he was actually looking at one of the main characters, he wasn't so sure.

"Uh, do you know Sarah and Jimmy?" he asked, instantly regretting it as Ed pulled himself off the ground and grabbed his shoulders.

"Baby sister! Sarah! Where's my baby sister?!"

Well, at least now he knew which one was Sarah's brother.

"I'm sure Sarah's fine. She's tough, you know? She wouldn't go down without a fight."

Ed grinned. "Mac and cheese is right!"

Mac was about to protest about the name when he remembered something. Where  _was_  Cheese? He hadn't seen the yellow imaginary friend for days, and usually he showed up sooner rather than later at the most inopportune of times. Even if he didn't find him, he could usually hear Frankie yelling at him about whatever mess he had made and how she would have to clean it up. He really missed Foster's, and it had only been a day. Or had it?

"Cococo coco cocococo co?" Coco was apparently on the same wavelength as him. Even if she was batty at times, she cared about the other people at Foster's and was probably one of the only people genuinely concerned for Cheese's welfare.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Mac too tired to move, when they heard the roaring of an engine. Looking up, Mac saw an airship of some kind descending upon the clearing. He wondered if it had something to do with Fuse, in which case he was ready to move as fast as possible, but he felt like he recognized it. No, he did recognize it! It had been the same airship at Foster's yesterday!

Mac had always admired the Kids Next Door, knowing that there were members at his own school (though most of them were almost thirteen) and tried to help them if it wasn't too inconvenient for him. He didn't believe that adults were all that evil, knowing people like Frankie and Madam Foster were around, but he could understand where they were coming from even though he thought they were being too extreme.

The ship landed at the very edge of the clearing and the same four operatives Mac had seen yesterday filed out, two of them carrying bags on their shoulders. There was another boy with them that hadn't been there yesterday. They didn't see Mac and his friends at first, chatting among themselves until Coco ran up to them, Ed following behind them. Mac shook his head and walked over to them, silently praying that Coco and Ed didn't do anything stupid.

"Ed? What are you doing?" the girl in the red cap - Abby, right? - said. "How did you even get here?"

Ed was now riding Coco like a horse. "Kankers, Numbuh Five! Kankers!"

Mac decided to speak up. "Um, hello."

Five pairs of eyes turned to him. Or at least their heads, considering that most of their eyes were covered. They didn't look terribly mean, so he came even closer.

"Sorry about Coco. She ran off into the forest so I chased her and we ended up here. That was about a day ago, right after you guys were at Foster's. I'm Mac," he said, still cautious. "I'm a friend of the people there, so uh, yeah."

Abby, or Numbuh Five rather, said, "Oh yeah, I remember you now. Kinda on the sidelines there. I'm Numbuh Five, or at least I am when I'm on duty." She pointed her finger at her teammates one by one. "That's Numbuhs One, Two, Three, and Four. We're the members of Sector V of the Kids Next Door, and before you ask we're teen operatives."

Mac waved slightly as his stomach rumbled for the second time. He wrapped his arms around his small frame in embarrassment, his face heating up. Way to ruin a perfectly good introduction.

"Ya hungry, kid? Numbuh Five has some candy back in the ship."

"No!" Mac's eyes widened. That was all he needed. If he ate sugar he would be joining Ed and Coco in their game of ring-around-the-Kids-Next-Door. "I mean, I uh, I can't eat sugar or I end up really hyper." He nodded at Ed and Coco, who hadn't stopped at all. "Like them except ten times worse. So as much as I'd like to I can't. Sorry."

The five teammates in front of him looked at each other as if this were the most horrific thing on the planet, even worse than the incoming alien invasion. For what felt like hours, they stared at each other before looking back at the brunette in front of them with looks of pity. He was used to that by now, but it was still kind of annoying. It sucked, but on the bright side he was healthier than a lot of other kids his age.

"That sucks, Mac," Numbuh Two said. "I think I have some few mints in my pocket, so you can have those. It's not much but it's something." He took out a container of mints, handing them to the younger boy. "There you go."

Mac poured some mints into his hand and shoved them in his mouth. At least it would quell his hunger for a little while as well as taking out his bad breath. Not having a tooth brush was just another inconvenience and another reason why he should get home. Then again, did he really want to? Being bossed around by Mr Herriman during a war didn't seem like his idea of fun. Then again, Bloo may need him.

Sector V had begun talking between themselves again, so Mac decided to finally stop Ed and Coco. Having quite a few years of experience, he managed to calm Coco down within a minute, though it was a bit harder when she had Ed egging her on. Once he found out that there was an abandoned jawbreaker in one of the tree-houses, he was up the ladder and inside within seconds. Mac decided to keep that in mind in case he needed to use that against him. He realized he should probably call Sarah or Jimmy and tell them he had found Ed, but he had no phone. He approached Sector V once again.

"Um, do you any of you guys have a phone? I need to call Ed's sister or something and tell him he's here," he said.

Numbuh Three giggled and gave him her phone. "There you go! Take your time. Sometimes being a teen operative with an awesome technology officer has its perks." When he looked at her warily, she said, "We don't have to pay for anything and we get reception pretty much anywhere."She waved him away. "Go on!"

Mac smiled as he ducked behind the tree for some privacy. That girl's personality was contagious. He had to think for a second, trying to remember Sarah's number. He had a pretty good memory when it came to phone numbers, so even though he had only rung her once for a school project he remembered it pretty easily. Sitting on the grass, he waited for her to pick up.

" _Hello?_ " She sounded as angry as ever, but also exhausted. Mac wondered what she had been up to.

"Sarah? It's Mac. I found your brother."

" _You serious? He's okay, right? I mean, he's an idiot but I still care about him._ "

"Yeah, he's fine. He's really worried about you, though."

" _That's just like him. What's he doing?"_

"Eating a stale jawbreaker in one of the tree-houses here."

Another voice was heard from the other line. " _Did someone say jawbreakers?!_ "

 _"There are more important things than jawbreakers, Eddy!"_ Mac rubbed his ears. Damn, she was loud. _"Sorry about that, Mac. Where is he? The last I saw him he was heading to the Wilds."_

"Uh, we're somewhere in the Wilds, definitely." He looked around for some sort of sign. He found one at the very top of the tree, very easy to miss if one wasn't looking. "Mount Blackhead's the place." He looked over at the tree-house and saw Ed dive down to the ground instead of taking the ladder. "Uh, he's back. Do you wanna talk to him?"

 _"Yes, thanks."_ There was the tired tone to her voice again.

Mac covered the phone and called out to Ed. "Ed! Your sister's one the phone! She wants to talk to you!"

"Baby sister!" Ed ran towards him and grabbed the phone, speaking into the wrong end as he shouted, "Sarah, are you okay?!"

Mac decided to leave him alone for the time being. It was the polite thing to do, after all. Instead, he looked over at Sector V and was surprised to see Numbuhs One, Two, and Five disappearing into their airship, Numbuh Three waving and Numbuh Four staring at the ground angrily. He remembered that Three and Four had been carrying bags with them. Perhaps they were staying overnight on a mission or something? He decided to go ask.

"Hey, what're you two doing here? Are you staying for the night?" Mac asked, approaching them.

Numbuh Four scowled even more. "Pfft, more than overnight. We're stuck here until we're told otherwise. It sucks."

"Oh, cheer up, Wally!" Numbuh Three said. She looked at Mac. "This is where the KND Jungle Outpost is and we've been assigned to look after it until further notice." She frowned slightly. "Where's my phone, by the way?"

Ed ran up to them before Mac had a chance to answer, chucking the phone towards Mac who caught it and placed his mouth to the speaker again. "Sarah, you there?"

" _Yeah. The idiot says he likes it there and he's gonna stay. Well, that's his issue, not mine. Will he be alright out there, though?_ "

"He should be. The Kids Next Door's set up a base of sorts here, so we should have food and everything."

" _We? Are you staying there as well?_ "

He paused. "I guess."

" _Well, then can you keep an eye on him? He's, well, you've seen what he's like. Take care of yourself too._ "

He resisted the urge to chuckle. If he had been talking to the version of Sarah who had just started junior high, he would have been given a loud earful by this point. "You too, Sarah. Thanks." He hung up and gave the phone back to Numbuh Three, who pocketed it.

"So what are you gonna do with him?" Numbuh Four asked, looking at Ed.

Mac shrugged. "He wants to stay here, apparently. If he's anything like his sister he has the strength of an entire army, so I'm not going to try and stop him. If it's okay with you, can Coco and I stay here? I kind of promised Sarah I would help her brother."

Numbuh Three cheered. "Sure! You're alright with that aren't you, Wally?"

"Sure. You're alright, kid."

Mac beamed. Coming from members from the Kids Next Door, especially experienced operatives such as themselves, it was a big compliment. "Thanks, Numbuh Four!"

"Oi, if you're gonna be hanging around here you may as well call me Wally. Everyone else does," he said, giving a side glance to Numbuh Three, who giggled.

"Call me Kuki!" she said. "I'll just go and tell Foster's that you're here."

Mac nodded, finding himself too tired to do much else. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, probably a result of wandering through the jungle for an entire day. Wally must have noticed him sway a bit as he picked the younger boy up and took him to one of the tree-houses in the area. There were quite a few of them, so he figured he would get one to himself. That was his last coherent thought as he felt himself slipping into dreamland.

"C'mon, kid. You need to rest," Wally said, laying him down on something soft, probably a bed.

"Thanks, Wally," Mac said, shutting his eyes for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

* * *

 

_January 15th - 6:17pm_

Wilt slipped through the doors to the Cul-de-sac (also known as the 'Plank Doors') with ease. Being as skinny as he was had its perks, and he thought this as he watched the bustling activity in the enclosed street. The place looked almost the same save for a red carpet and a throne-like structure smack bang in the middle. He wasn't surprised to see Eddy on the throne, giving out orders as if he owned the place. He had met two of the three Eds the previous night when he had helped deliver the boxes that now made up the fortress around the Cul-de-sac, and he had to admit he liked Edd more than Eddy, not that he would ever say so to either of their faces, or anyone for that matter.

"Hello, Eddy. How are you today?" he asked, approaching the short boy. "You're not scamming people, I hope."

"Nah, he's just being annoying," said one of the Cul-de-sac kids who was passing by. Wilt knew he lived there but had no clue what his name was.

"Sorry, I forgot your name," he said. "I'm Wilt from Foster's. Nice to meet you."

The boy seemed taken aback by how straightforward and polite he was. "I never gave you my name, dude. It's Kevin. I remember seeing you last night talking to Double D, but he's not here."

Wilt frowned. "He isn't? Did he go to Tech Square? I hope he's not overworking himself."

Even though he had only officially met Edd the previous evening, he could see how hard he was working. He had told Wilt how he was a leader of sorts, in charge of pretty much the entirety of Peach Creek despite not really having the charisma of a leader. It was hard work for the poor boy and Wilt wanted to help him out as much as he could. He was intelligent, polite, and caring, even to those who were rather rude to him. Wilt knew first hand that could be tiring.

Eddy sighed and slumped down in his throne. "He probably is, stupid Sockhead. He always does this. We don't know where Ed is either."

"I know where he is," came a voice from behind the throne. Two children around Mac's age appeared in front of him, a girl and a boy. "He's at Mount Blackhead with Mac."

Wilt perked up when he heard Mac being mentioned. No one had heard from him or Coco since they disappeared into the Wilds the other day and he was worried about them. Frankie had been practically tearing her hair out over them and Bloo had been very worried about his creator, more worried than Bloo had ever shown in the public eye.

"Mac? Is Mac alright?" he asked the girl who had spoken.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, he's fine. He's staying at the base there along with my brother," the girl said, flicking her red hair behind her shoulder. "He called on someone else's phone to tell me, so I don't think they're all alone there either."

Looking at Eddy, Wilt saw the scammer breathe a small sigh of relief over his friend. It was hard to spot, but after spending enough time around people like Bloo, he had learned to see the signs. He smiled slightly but didn't say anything, knowing that if he did he would probably embarrass him.

No one really had the chance to say anything as at that moment Eddy's cell phone rang. "It's Double D," he said, looking at the caller ID before answering. "'Sup, Double D?"

The people around the throne were silent as they watched Eddy nod and grunt in agreement, his expression changing between curiosity and discontent. He didn't seem upset or angry, so that was a good sign, and he remained that way until he hung up, grumbling a little bit.

"What did he need, Eddy?" the red haired girl's companion said, running his finger along his retainer.

"There's a meeting at Tech Square for everyone," Eddy said, his voice mustering authority Wilt didn't know it had. "Dorkster's summoning everyone there, and by everyone I mean everyone. Double D needs us to spread the word."

Kevin crossed his arms. "What's the meeting even about? Dorkster better not waste our time."

Eddy threw his hands in the air. "How should I know? Double D just said it was some kind of war meeting or something. Come on, let's go!"


	6. Chapter 6

_January 15th - 7:43pm_

If you were to ask Dexter what he thought was going to happen within forty-eight hours of the initial invasion, a time portal opening at Sector V wouldn't be one of them. It wasn't entirely impossible of course, considering the fact that it actually did happen, but after everything that had happened over the past two days it just seemed a bit ridiculous. Yet here he was, looking at the group of people in his laboratory and wondering how on earth they were actually alive, especially since only one of them was actually human.

"I have a meeting out in the square in seventeen minutes," he told them, checking his watch. "I would appreciate it if you didn't get involved. Having your help will definitely be beneficial, but it would probably be best if you learned a bit of how this world works first."

He found that he was only really speaking to the pink girl, Princess Bubblegum, and the walking flame, Flame Princess, as no one else was really paying attention. The vampire was strumming her guitar while the eccentric blue Santa Claus and his penguin were being held at bay by the human and the talking dog. The rainbow unicorn was talking to the walking video game about something or other. The purple thing had disappeared on their way over to DexLabs, so she was probably somewhere out there with no way of returning. It was just a complete mess.

"Thank you, Dexter," Bubblegum said. "That's not a problem. We'll do whatever we can to help."

Flame Princess nodded. "Yeah, whatever we need to do."

"Alright, well I'll leave you two in charge with Computeress since you're the only people  _listening_." Dexter made sure to raise his voice on the last word so everyone else looked at him. "I shall see you afterwards."

Without another word, he marched out of his laboratory and to the balcony overlooking Tech Square. He had known the giant monitor he had installed behind him would be of use some day, and he silently congratulated himself on that fact as he set up his presentation. Knowing that there would be many people in the audience, he had to cater to the less intellectually gifted, so he hoped what he had to say wouldn't have to go on for too long. If he had people falling asleep in the crowd, well, that would just show who he shouldn't trust with his technology. In his opinion, they were lucky to even have the opportunity to use it in the first place.

People had already begun to trickle in. There were a few people he recognized, such as Edd and four Sector V members, that were early. Most people arrived five minutes prior to the meeting time, causing a ruckus as they all squished into the square, which wasn't use to having so many people standing in it. People were pushed around as others tried to get to the front, people like Bubbles having to direct traffic at one point.

"We're not late are we?"

Dexter looked at the door to the balcony where Numbuh Five, Samurai Jack, Blossom and Ben were standing. He had been wondering why the more punctual of the group (which was basically everyone except Ben) had almost been late. He supposed they were all waiting to come up together, make sure they were all there and the like. He didn't bother to ask the reason it took them so long. Seeing Ben panting and out of breath was more than enough proof that he had rushed his way over there.

"No, you're just in time," Dexter said, adjusting the headset that would broadcast his voice out. He waited for his watch to hit eight on the dot before clearing his throat, a sound that echoed throughout the entire square.

People's voices instantly quietened, leaving only a few hushed whispers until they too died down. Dexter took that as his signal to continue. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you are already aware of the planet descending upon us. Planet Fusion, ruled by Planet Fuse, wishes to take over our own planet and attach it to his own, making fusion monsters out of all of us. He has various methods of doing this which I will describe to you in simple terms.

"To spread the infection, Fuse sends down terrafusers which come in two sizes. The smaller sized ones produce monsters while the bigger ones spread fusion matter, the green goo. All of the places the bigger terrafusers have landed have been blocked off save for the Darklands which still needs to be inspected. Watch out for any and all terrafusers as while fusion matter hasn't been completely tested, we should believe the substance is toxic until proven otherwise.

"I'm sure that by now a number of you have encountered the monsters Fuse has created. Mandark Industries and DexLabs are working to figure out the weakness of fusions so we can properly combat the invasion, but as for now we have a variety of weapons available today that the Dexbots are handing out as we speak. Please be patient as each Dexbot will pass by you sooner or later." He watched the blue robots maneuver through the crowd with slight difficulty, handing out weapons to everyone in the crowd. "DexLabs can not take credit for all of these designs either as most were manufactured by Mandark Industries. Instructions for each weapon come with it, but it should be a simple matter of 'point and shoot', as they say.

"DexLabs has also created the NanoCom, a communicator for everyone. You can contact anyone and everyone if need be, but do not abuse its power. It also keeps track of your money and has a map for those less experienced with the geography of this world. Instructions come with this as well, and if you ever need your NanoCom fixed, bring it to the nearest Dexbot and they will help you. Please note that this is still in beta, a work in progress, so updates will be given when necessary.

"We will all need your help in this war effort. Everyone must cooperate with one another to destroy Fuse. Every single one of you is vital to this cause, whether you be a child, a teen, or an adult. We've got the tools, you've got the talent!"

The crowd erupted with cheers as he finished, apparently all pumped and ready to fight against the invading planet. Dexter had to admire the enthusiasm, especially since further into the war that would wear off.

The meeting was dispersed after that and Dexter took Blossom with him to his laboratory, filling her in on what had happened back at Sector V and how the time travelers had been delivered to him. He figured that she would be the best person to take, along with Numbuh Five, but she had to tend to her sector for a bit. If there was one thing he lacked, it was tact. He wasn't the best at socializing and he needed a bit of charisma backing him up.

The group of people (were they all friends with each other?) had been reunited with their purple friend who was now complaining over how strange her new cell phone was. Most of them were just sitting around one of his meeting tables, playing cards or talking. Computeress was sitting with them, deep in conversation with Princess Bubblegum. All of them looked up as Dexter entered the room, falling silent.

"So we need to figure out what we're going to do with all of you. Where to station you," Dexter said. He gestured towards Blossom. "This is Blossom, leader of the Powerpuff Girls. Sector V told you about them, yes? She's going to help assign places for you to go."

Blossom slid into Dexter's usual seat, looking up at him with a playful smirk. He was about to scold her but decided not to, seeing that she was in a much better mood than yesterday. She said, "What we need to know is your strengths. For example, do you have experience in fighting monsters, the paranormal, technology? What are you good at?"

The human boy spoke up first. "Me and Jake fight monsters on a daily basis. We're ready to kick some Fusion ass!"

"Hell yeah!" Jake rose from his seat. "I can also do this!" He started stretching himself, winding around the shelves and monitors with ease. Dexter had seen this before, so he had been expecting it, but Blossom hadn't. She looked pretty impressed.

"Alright, in that case we'll put you further towards the front lines. You seem to have knowledge on magic to an extent as well, so you'll probably interact with Juniper Lee a lot. I'll introduce you later," Blossom said, taking out her NanoCom. She typed something Dexter couldn't see, probably making notes.

Flame Princess was the next to speak. "Well, I control fire and I can fight with it. I'm more of a ruler than a fighter, but I'll do what I can. Is there anywhere with a lot of fire?"

Blossom looked somewhat uneasy. "There are the Firepits and Fireswamps, but those are in the Darklands. That's where Fuse's infection has spread most, and even though it's not too bad right now we're expecting it to be pretty bad later on. We're not saying you can't go there, but we just want you to know what you're going to be in for."

"I'll do it." Dexter had to admire her determination. "If anyone can help out there it's me. I mean, not to sound full of myself or anything, but I'm literally made out of fire, meaning that even if I fall in I'll be fine. I'll probably even regenerate health."

Dexter still wasn't sure, but Blossom spoke before he could protest. "If you're really sure, then yes. Go for it."

"I'm particularly good at science," Princess Bubblegum said. "If there's anything I can do to help in that way, please tell me."

Dexter thought for a moment. "Mandark and I probably won't need a large amount of help, but there are others around. You can help Professor Utonium if need be, and there's also Double D. We'd be honored for you to help us in the name of science, Princess Bubblegum."

"Okay, good," Bubblegum said, inclining her head.

Blossom typed down a few more things before continuing. "Alright, so who's next?"

The girl with the guitar - Marceline, Dexter reminded himself - said, "Well, I'm a vampire who's father is the ruler of the Underworld. That's gotta count for something, right?"

She was probably being sarcastic, but Blossom hardly even registered that. "You could always work with Grim."

"Grim?"

"The Grim Reaper. You may have heard of him," Blossom said. "When someone dies, he takes their spirit to the Underworld. That's what he usually does, but over the past few years he's been rather  _inconvenienced,_ if you will. Still, he has the job of protecting us and all. He's not an evil guy and he's pretty easy to get along with, but his two friends are quite different."

Marceline leaned on her elbows. "Different? If you haven't noticed, all of us are pretty different."

Blossom paused for a second. "Point taken, but he was basically tricked by the girl, Mandy, into becoming best friends with her and Billy, the boy, forever. Mandy's busy but you'll probably meet her sooner or later. She's intelligent but very cunning. Billy, on the other hand is, erm." She struggled to find the right word.

"Stupid," Dexter offered.

"Yeah, that."

Marceline smirked. "I think I can handle that."

Blossom continued to type on her NanoCom, making the most out of its features. "Okay, what about the rest of you?"

"Ooh, ooh, me! Pick me!" Ice King said, raising the hand with his penguin in it. "I'm more of a lover than a fighter, but I do like magical things. I can fly!" He rose into the air slightly to prove his point. "I also have ice powers, so I guess if you have somewhere icy I can be badass there."

"Uh, alright," Blossom said slowly. Dexter only just managed to refrain himself from laughing. "Well, we don't have any places surrounded by ice, but if you can construct a sort of camp on the ice out in the water we may be able to combat the invasion better from the sea. Are you able to do that?"

Ice King bowed. "Of course, m'lady."

Before Blossom asked again, the rainbow unicorn spoke. " _Naneun byeog-eul tonghae idonghago daleun salam-eul susong cheoleom, mabeob-ui neunglyeog-eul gajigo_."

Jake was about to translate, but Blossom spoke. "Alright, you'll be a transporter. An unofficial one, of course, perhaps to the Ice King's base? So the travelers don't get wet."

Dexter blinked, sitting down at the table beside Blossom. "I thought you spoke Chinese, not Korean," he whispered.

Blossom looked up from her NanoCom. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Dexter," she said, amused. "Alright, what about the last two? Erm, what are your names again?"

"Lumpy Space Princess. I'm good at talking on the phone. That's a serious skill, you know," the purple blob said. "I got a new phone so it should work in this universe, right?"

"Right - hey, is that a Morbucks phone?" Blossom asked, pausing mid-type. "I thought those were insanely expensive."

LSP shrugged. "Well I didn't buy it myself, obviously. This chick called Princess did. We get along really well actually. She knows how to gossip and she was telling me about these boys, and -"

"Yeah, yeah, I know her," Blossom cut in, frowning. "You can be stationed with her, I guess, since you get along so well. Princess doesn't get along with a lot of people, so at least there'll be one person besides the rest of our enemies." The last bit was mumbled, but Dexter was able to understand it.

Everyone's eyes turned to the walking, talking video game. He (or at least Dexter assumed it was a he) looked very cheerful as he stood up. Dexter made a note of remembering to find out how the thing worked, finding it very interesting considering they had nothing like that now. Then again, he did have Computeress, so it wasn't completely out of the realms of possibility.

"BMO's special skills are mainly playing video games and movies!" the console said. "I can also record!"

Blossom chewed on a couple of hair strands. "Record, huh? You are pretty small, so I'm sure we can hide you somewhere if we need to spy on Fuse, but that won't be until down the line. Do you want to stay with me at Sector V until we find an official position for you?"

BMO responded by dawdling up to Blossom and sitting in front of her. "I would like that very much."

"Well, that's that then," Blossom said. "I'll show you where you'll be on the map, important places and the like. We better get out of here before Dexter faints from too much social activity." She threw him a smile when he glared at her, beckoning the others to follow her out of the room.

Dexter continued to stare at the door after they were gone.

"I'm glad I'm not  _that_  weird."

* * *

 

_January 16th - 2:48am_

Bubbles hadn't been able to sleep all night. Since ten in the evening, she had been tossing and turning in the bed made for her at City Hall. It couldn't have been that she wasn't used to the mattress or anything of the sort since she had been sleeping there the past couple of nights, so what was making her so restless now? It was only when she patted the other side of the bed that she realized what was missing.

Sitting up in a rush, she literally flew out of bed and into the hallways of City Hall. Usually they were calmer at night, only a few workers around, but now that the alien invasion had been officially announced, staff members were power-walking around everywhere, shuffling through paper work and calling out to each other to make sure they were doing the right thing. Most of them were used to seeing the Powerpuff Girls flying in and out, but not in their night gowns looking distressed.

She flew all the way into the Mayor's office. Since it was so early in the morning, the Mayor was getting some sleep, leaving Sara Bellum to do most of the work. This wasn't out of the ordinary, of course, but Bubbles really did have to feel sorry for the poor woman. She didn't think about that, however, when she smashed through the door, panting.

"Bubbles, what's the matter?" Ms. Bellum asked, not even fazed by the door breaking.

"Where's Octi?! I can't find Octi!" Bubbles cried, biting her nails.

Ms. Bellum let out a relieved sigh. "Is that all? I'm sure he's around here somewhere, Bubbles. Where did you see him last?"

Bubbles floated in the air, legs crossed. "Um, at the meeting last night. I went home by myself since Blossom had to stay with Dexter and help him out with something. I'm sure I had him then, but not when I came back. Did someone steal him?" Her eyes teared up. "Who would do such a thing?!"

Ms. Bellum's answer was drowned out by the Mayor tripping over the broken door, falling over his pajama pants and onto the floor. "Ms. Bellum, Ms. Bellum! Where's my spare monocle?! I can't find my normal one, where is it?! Can you give it to me, please?"

"Of course, Mayor." Ms. Bellum rummaged through the drawers in the Mayor's desk, searching for the monocle. Bubbles knew that the Mayor hardly ever lost his monocle (compared to other things), and when he did everyone knew about it. It was as if he couldn't function without it, just like with her and Octi. What were the chances of both beloved items going missing? Very slim, that was for sure.

"Here you go, Mayor," Ms. Bellum said, taking out the spare monocle. "I'm sure you just misplaced your usual one."

Bubbles listened to them chatter on for a moment, but it was mostly background noise against the sound of her thoughts. Octi was something she hardly ever let out of her sight, but the past two days or so had been filled with invasion preparations and things slipped her mind. Still, she always had him with her, unless - no, he wouldn't  _dare_. Not again.

She flew up through the ceiling, ignoring the calls of Ms. Bellum as she flew into the night air. The wind engulfed her as she made her way to Endsville, revenge in mind. She was still tired, so she was relieved she didn't have to fly too far, but it was a simple thought at the back of her brain. Her main priority was retrieving Octi and returning him to her side.

Arriving at Endsville, she searched desperately for someone she knew so she could ask where he was, but she didn't have to. She found the exact person she was looking for standing in front of one of the houses without a care in the world. No, that was wrong. He looked incredibly tired, like she was, but it didn't make her want to go easy on him at all. In fact, it just made her want to hurt him even more.

"Him! Where's Octi?! Where have you taken him?!"

Him blinked, registering her presence in front of him. "Bubbles, what are you talking about? I didn't take him, not this time."

Of course, with his tone of voice, everything he said sounded like a taunt. In her panic-induced state of mind, Bubbles could only hear that. "I know you're lying, Him!"

"I'm not, honest. Do you  _really_  think I would try the same trick again? But I think I may have an idea of where he went."

Bubbles mentality broke and she drifted to the ground, hands on her hips as she stared at him, waiting for answers. "Go on."

"Bubbles, please don't look at me like that, darling. Well, I actually saw Fuse the other day, right after the initial invasion, right? Before sending his monsters to attack my attractive, poised butt he just swiped my pink stole off my neck! The fiend! I hardly had the money to pay for a replacement, but I suppose that's where being friends - or whatever our relationship is - with Princess comes in handy," Him explained, his claws moving as he spoke.

"What does this have to do with Octi?" Bubbles asked, becoming impatient.

Him let out an exasperated sigh. "What I'm trying to say is, Fuse probably had a reason for taking it. Maybe he took Octi as well? Have anyone else's belongings gone missing?"

"The Mayor's monocle, around the same time Octi went missing. We're both stationed at City Hall for now, so it makes sense." She flipped through her memory, like the pages of a book she didn't particularly want to read. "Now that you mention it, Samurai Jack's sandal was taken."

"See. I think there's something up with that."

Bubbles didn't bother to watch him walk away, too busy thinking about what he'd said. If it was true (and she would have to verify it because she didn't trust him at  _all_ ) then Octi was being used for something. She was aware that Octi was a stuffed toy without any human feelings, but sometimes, just sometimes, she liked to pretend he did, and so it killed her to think that he was being tortured some way, somehow. She should have taken care of him more, she knew that, but she also knew she couldn't beat herself up over it.

With a hardened resolve, she took off towards Sector V.

* * *

 

_January 16th - 7:32am_

Flame Princess liked to think she was a rather tough cookie, as far as cookies went. Even so, she couldn't help but feel a ginormous sense of relief when she was surrounded by fire again. She may have been in a completely different time period, a time even before the Great Mushroom War, but the Firepits and Fireswamps reminded her of the Fire Kingdom too much for her to feel nervous. She wondered if this place had actually become the Fire Kingdom during the war, but she supposed she would never know.

She had been dropped off via some sort of flying vehicle, a S.C.A.M.P.E.R., she recalled, half an hour ago. At least she thought it was half an hour ago. She had lost track of the time after playing with the Nanocom for a while. She had never seen a gadget quite like it before. They didn't have anything like that in Ooo, or at least she hadn't seen one. Maybe she should ask Princess Bubblegum if she had made anything like this before. In any event, she would say half an hour had passed and she was feeling better already, save for one thing - she felt hopelessly alone.

The Firepits and Fireswamps were deserted, not a single person in sight. At least back in her kingdom she had her citizens to keep her company, but at the moment she had no one. She could always call someone via the Nanocom, but Dexter had said it was only for short conversations or emergencies, not check up calls. So she was basically alone.

"Whoa, what the hell are you?!"

Or maybe she wasn't.

Turning around, she saw a girl wearing white, brown hair tied up in a side ponytail. Ever since arriving here, she had seen so many humans it was insane. She knew they had been a dominant species way back when, but not this much! This must have been one of them. She certainly looked like one.

"I'm Flame Princess. I'm from the future. Long story," she said, not really knowing how to explain it. She didn't particularly want to, either. She hadn't slept all night. "And you are?"

"Peggy Danger. Nice to meet you," the girl said, showing all her teeth as she smiled. "So, are you made of fire or something?"

This girl was a curious one. Flame Princess could relate. "Pretty much, so I won't touch you or shake your hand or anything. I'll probably just burn you. On the plus side, I won't be affected by the fire, which is why I'm stationed here."

"That's so cool!" Peggy gushed, her hands clasped together. "I wish I could do stuff like that, but humans don't have powers like that. Well, that's not entirely true. I mean, the Powerpuff Girls are mostly human and they have powers, and it's the same with Juniper Lee, oh and Gwen and Kevin. Ben's are based on that watch, so does that count?"

The girl continued to ramble on and Flame Princess found herself listening to every word. She found this world fascinating, nothing like Ooo. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There were some similarities where magic was concerned, and the underworld, though the way it worked was different. She wondered how that had changed. After being caged in for most of her childhood, she found the outside world to be intriguing, brilliant,  _astonishing_. If she had an opportunity to learn more she would take it in with open arms.

She was so deep in thought that she hardly registered Peggy stop her long rant abruptly. "Is that smoke?"

Flame Princess followed Peggy's gaze. She was right. Smoke was drifting up to the very top of the dark sky. Wherever it was coming from, they would have to go across the Firepits to get there. There was a pathway leading there, but where 'there' was, well, she had no idea.

"Come on," Peggy said, standing up and running towards the path.

Flame Princess took no time in zooming after her.


	7. Chapter 7

_January 16th - 8:03am_

Gwen heard the bang even before her NanoCom rang. She was near Leaky Lake, investigating and taking a simple look around when she heard the muffled sound coming from far, far off in the distance. It was in the direction of the Darklands, a place she had never been herself, but she had heard quite a few stories. Using her powers to make an airborne staircase, she started making her way towards the sky in an attempt to see over the trees. She only made it a few steps before the familiar tone of her NanoCom went off, sounding different to when she was inside. It reminded her just how vast the lake was.

Clicking the answer button, she watched Ben appear before her. It seemed so real, like he was right there, but she knew it was just a simple holograph. "Gwen! Come to Hero's Hollow. A whole army of monsters are gathering there. Someone set off a warning and two girls answered it, but no one knows where the person who set it off went. Anyway, just come here. We need you on the front lines!"

Without waiting for a response, Ben's image flickered away. Gwen looked for the nearest S.C.A.M.P.E.R., remembering there was one at Mount Blackhead. Despite not knowing the pathways of the Wilds too well, she ran at full speed towards the mountain base, wanting to get there before the airship departed. She managed to skid into the area just as the last passengers were climbing aboard. She waited for those in front of her to hop on before approaching the doors herself, greeting Kuki who was ushering everyone inside.

"Hi, Gwen! There should be some room in the back." Even in the face of danger she smiled. Gwen had to commend her for that.

"Where's Numbuh Four?" Gwen asked. Despite having called them their first names at school, she felt that it was appropriate to use their code names now that they were comrades rather than just classmates.

Kuki pointed over to the giant tree in the middle of the clearing. Wally was speaking to a young boy with a red shirt. The poor boy couldn't have been in high school yet, but she could tell from even this far away that he was trying to be brave. He nodded at whatever Wally said and, when the latter seemed satisfied, went to sit down by a bird-like creature. Or, at least that was what Gwen thought it was.

Wally ran over to them, leaping through the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. doors and shutting them just as quickly. He wasn't even out of breath as the three of them moved towards the back, sitting down and leaning back as the Kids Next Door pilot launched the airship into the air. Gwen had only been inside one of these once, on her way here, but she still felt the sensation strange. She had been in a number of air crafts before, but none of them had been made by ten year olds. She found it astounding how they could build something like this, but then again, she had also met a few young geniuses in her time.

"What did you say to Mac, Wally?" Kuki asked, moving her legs so she was sitting cross-legged in her seat. Gwen noticed that even when they were on duty these two never used each others' code names.

Wally blew his bangs out of his eyes only for them to fall back down a minute later. "I told him he was in charge. I know there aren't many other people there and he's definitely not the oldest, but he's the most rational. The most capable. He'll be fine. Besides, Mount Blackhead is a safe spot, just like Sector V and the Cul-de-sac. Monsters can't get in."

The two began talking about other things that didn't pique Gwen's interest, so she took to looking around at the other passengers. Ed was there, restrained by seat belts, but from what she had heard that was nowhere near enough to contain the sheer force of strength he was. She wondered whether he would be alright in the Darklands. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, after all. If Double D or Eddy were there to give him orders, then that would be a different story, but leaving him on his own would be dangerous. She didn't recognize anyone else, just a few familiar faces from school she couldn't put names to.

As they entered the Darklands, she could have sworn she felt the temperature drop twenty degrees. The sunlight that had been streaming through the windows just seconds before faded into a foggy grey and all the sounds of nature had been replaced with a foreboding silence. She knew it wasn't just her feeling these things as the entire ship had gone silent. Everyone was looking around at each other, concerned about what exactly they were heading into. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kuki take Wally's hand, neither of them batting an eyelid.

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. landed in Huntor's Crest. No monsters were around, contrary to what Mandark had reported the previous evening. Gwen guessed they were at Hero's Hollow. She could already hear the sounds of battle from the next area and she wondered if Ben and Kevin had already arrived. Maybe her grandfather was there too, on the sidelines commanding the Plumbers. She suddenly had the overwhelming urge to race into the battlefield, but she knew she had to remain with the others until she was told she could go.

Her NanoCom rang again, hardly heard over the sound of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. engines. Taking it out, her cousin's face popped up again. "Gwen, you there? Meet us by one of the camps at Hero's Hollow, the one at the very right corner. Quick, and if you find anyone else who was at that meeting the other day bring them as well."

Hanging up, she turned to Kuki and Wally. They had been listening in on the conversation, and judging by the determined expressions on their faces, they were ready to fight just as much as she was. Putting her NanoCom away she said, "You heard him. Let's go."

The three of them ran on the barely there path, weaving through the crowd of troops that had gathered. The camp in question wasn't like the other camps. It was more of a portable building, possibly another one of Dexter's inventions. She was about to comment on that fact when she noticed that the colour scheme was different - black and red. The logo wasn't the usual lowercase 'd' but a pointy 'M', meaning it belonged to Mandark Industries. She didn't know whether she really wanted to go in anymore.

She found that she didn't have a choice as Kuki dragged her inside before she could protest, Wally following along behind them. The interior was dark, the only source of light being a small lamp hanging over a table and the bright glow of the monitors towards one side of the narrow room. There was already quite the crowd inside. Mandark and Dexter were there, of course, along with the rest of Sector V. The pink and blue Powerpuffs were hanging around the opposite side of the table, next to Ben and Kevin. Everyone was leaning over a map of the area, watching Dexter's glove hand trace the landmarks.

"Ah, Gwen, Numbuh Three, Numbuh Four. How nice of you to join us." Did Dexter's voice  _always_  sound that sarcastic? "We've just been going over battle tactics. We have Major Glory and Juniper Lee leading the frontlines for now, until we figure something out, so let's make it snappy. From what we've seen, Fuse's monsters are divided into three groups, also known as the centre, the left wing, and the right wing. We're going to need to form three groups and take them on from there. Battle tactics are not my forte. Blossom, Numbuh Five, what do you suggest we do from here?"

The two girls looked at each other, Blossom answering. "I'll lead the left wing troops, Bubbles can lead the right wing troops. We have speed and force that can possibly overpower them and move them into the centre, giving us the majority of the area under our control. I think Sector V should lead the centre and push them towards the back."

"Ben, come with us," Abby said. "Gwen can go with Bubbles and Kevin can go with Blossom. What are the rest of you gonna do?"

"Dexter and I will be controlling war machines. They're only prototypes. We thought we wouldn't need them for at least a few weeks, but Fuse had other plans. Dexter will be assisted by Double D, who should already be there. I'm with this pink person, or whatever," Mandark said, pausing to think the name over.

"Princess Bubblegum," Dexter said. "Smart girl. The rest of you may divide the troops up as seen fit. Mandark and I must go attend to our devices now. Good luck, everyone."

Those words should have been enough to lift Gwen's spirits a bit, but the way Dexter said it implied that they would need it. They probably  _did_. Maybe it was the way Dexter always spoke, and if so she would have to change that. Or maybe she should convince Ben to. He saw the boy genius more often than she did, after all.

Shrugging the unpleasantness off, she moved over to Bubbles and Blossom as Sector V and Ben moved out. She guessed they didn't need many others when they had the Kids Next Door behind them.

"With the Kids Next Door at the centre we should spread the Plumbers and SACT Agents, a mixture of both, to the other two sides," Blossom was saying. "The two sides need to be equal for this to work, so we should spread them evenly. As for the remaining people, divide them into numbered squads and send odd numbers to me and even numbers to Bubbles. That should do it. Let's go!"

They all rushed out of the camp, Blossom and Bubbles giving their orders to the two officers standing guard outside. Gwen leaned on the wall of the small building as she felt a familiar presence move beside her. He would have blocked the sun if any light was visible.

"It's too early for this."

She smirked up at Kevin. "Any time before noon is too early for you."

"Damn right," he said, grinning. Gwen noticed how it was slightly crooked, giving off the aura of mischievousness he did so well. He looked away from her when Blossom called out to him, telling him to hurry. He nodded and said. "Be careful, Gwen."

Gwen smiled but didn't answer for he was already far into the crowd. Bubbles took her arm and, with her usual cheery expression, hoisted her up into the air. "Here we go!" she yelled, though the warning came a bit too late for Gwen, who had not been expecting the lift.

From this angle, she had a better look at the battlefield. She could see the Kids Next Door in the centre, Sector V in a triangle formation at the front. Numbuh One was leading them, Numbuhs Two and Three diagonally behind him on either side, the same pattern continuing with Numbuhs Four and Five. Gwen couldn't help wondering how on earth they could work so well together with their conflicting personalities. Hoagie was, for a lack of a better word, dorky and Wally was your stereotypical athlete, or at least from what she heard, yet the two of them were the best of friends. Where there was one, you would usually find the other. That was just one crazy friendship among them.

Bubbles was fast, too fast for Gwen's liking, though she had seen the super heroine go faster before. She realized Bubbles was probably going slower for her benefit, though it wasn't doing much at all. Motion sickness had never really been a problem for her, but all humans had their limits. Eventually, the two of them stopped in midair, leaving them hovering above the very front of the right wing.

"Okay, Gwen," Bubbles began, "I'm going to set us down at the very front of the fight. You ready?"

Gwen swallowed loudly. "Yes."

And so they descended. The sounds of lasers, clashing, and screaming became louder, almost overwhelmingly so. Gwen had heard all these noises before, of course, but there hadn't been so many people or so many monsters. It was quite overwhelming once she really thought about it, so she put it to the back of her mind as her feet touched the ground and began fighting.

She didn't know how long she fought alongside Bubbles, leading the group of Plumbers and SACT Agents. She was only vaguely aware of their (extremely slow) progress in forcing the monsters to the centre. Time flowed fast and slow at the same time, unaware of how long this was taking. Hit after hit, she tried to count the seconds but she was always distracted, whether it be by the monsters in front of her or thinking,  _'This is what happened to Bellwood. This is what happened to my home.'_

After goodness knew how long, she and Bubbles had managed to meet Sector V and Ben in the centre along with Blossom and Kevin. She watched Ben open his mouth to call the all-out attack, but the sound they all heard was different. The crackling of something electric, something sparking, could be heard even over the clangs of the battle. She took the risk of looking behind her, eyes widening at the sight of something shooting out neck-level towards the front of the battlefield.

"Duck!" she screamed, her voice mixed with Dexter's echoing from the speaker, and all the people crouched down. Some were too late as the energy shield blasted horizontally across the clearing, some short enough so it only singed their hair. Others weren't so lucky.

The distraction was enough for Fuse's monsters. They charged through them, over them, into the fray. From her position on the ground Gwen could only shoot energy blasts at the enemies' feet. After the stampede, she managed to stand up, the energy shield having retracted.

"What the hell was that about?" Kevin was suddenly beside her, hands on her shoulders. Was it just her or had his voice gone up an octave or so? "That ain't normal."

She couldn't agree more.

* * *

 

_January 16th - 2:45pm_

Princess Bubblegum had never experienced something so frightening in her life.

In her kingdom she ruled over candy people. They weren't invincible, but they were harder to kill since they could just be remade, in a sense. Or, if she really needed to, Peppermint Butler could just take a trip to the Underworld. This was hard to watch, incredibly hard. As a princess, she felt it was her duty to protect her people, but these weren't her people. These were probably her ancestors, as strange as that sounded. Maybe they had been fused with bubblegum during the Great Mushroom War or something, perhaps she would never know, but all she knew was that they lived in the same world, no matter the time period.

"What in Glob's name was that?" she said, her voice only just managing to find its way out of her throat.

Mandark was fiddling with the buttons in front of him, a deep scowl on his face. "One of Dexter's shield generators just malfunctioned."

"Dexter made a mistake?" she asked, gravitating towards him to watch what he was doing.

The look Mandark gave her didn't leave any room for doubt when he said, "Dexter may be a rude, inconceivable jerk, but he doesn't make mistakes."

Bubblegum continued to watch as the boy in front of her tried to stop what was happening, but it was no use. The shields continued to malfunction every which way, soaring above and through trees and even tearing off the roof of one of the tents set up to the side. A bright pink glow could be seen in the middle of the battlefield, another shield deflecting the blows of those soaring at it. Whoever was controlling the pink shield seemed to be struggling, and it wasn't enough to cover all the allies caught in the crossfire.

"Bubblegum." She turned back to Mandark. "I know it's dangerous, but can you check on Dexter's machine? Something has to be done about what's happening. If you go through the tunnel that connects these two machines together you should be safe."

She nodded once and ran off to the ground level, darting into the tunnel. It was dark, but that wasn't the biggest problem she was facing. The room she had just previously been in was sound proof, so she couldn't hear the carnage even if she tried, but now it was echoing all around her. Harsh metallic sounds and cries of those whose reflexes failed them filled her ears, and as much as she wanted to she couldn't stop. She had a job to do. Besides, she was a leader. It would be unbecoming if she showed her weaknesses, even if there weren't any others about.

Recollecting herself, she dashed in to the DexLab's war machine only to run smack-bang into Edd. She had been introduced to him right before the battle had started, and it wasn't hard to recognize him with the hat he constantly wore. The boy himself seemed exhausted, panting like no tomorrow, and with the situation they were in right now that just may have been the case. Regardless, she knew she couldn't waste any time.

"Double D! What's going on?!"

"Cheese!"

"Cheese?"

Edd shook his head and grabbed her wrist, dragging her upstairs to where Dexter was. Or, at least where he was supposed to be. Bubblegum could barely see him among the mess, running after a yellow blob that was pressing all the buttons on the console at break neck speeds. The entire place was a mess, toilet paper and tissues (where had they even come from?) strewn everywhere, mustard dripping from the ceiling. It was enough to make her gag.

"Cheese, please stop!" Dexter had finally grabbed a hold of the yellow creature, but in doing so made the young thing cry.

After being let go, Cheese screamed, "Chocolate milk! I like chocolate milk!" He grabbed Dexter's arms and climbed on top of him.

Dexter caught sight of Edd and Bubblegum and shouted, "Good, two people! I need you both to shut off the generator. Quickly, quickly!"

Before she could ask where the generator was, Edd pulled her into a small room next to the main console. The generator in question was a small box, smaller than she would have thought. She watched as Edd opened a small panel, revealing a screen with two outlines of a person's right hand. Only two words were written as an instruction:  _'identify yourself'_.

"Place your palm on one of the hands, if you please, princess," Edd said, voice small as he did so himself. She followed suit.

The face of Computeress appeared on the screen.  _"Eddward AKA Double D and Princess Bubblegum have been identified. Shutting off generator."_

The lights dimmed then flickered back on again just as a crash was heard from the main room. Bubblegum rushed out to see a Cheese-shaped hole in the glass and Dexter coughing on the ground, looking exhausted. She dropped to his side, feeling Edd's presence behind her as she brushed some glass off the boy genius. Probably not the safest thing to do in hindsight, but there were more pressing issues at the time.

"Are you okay, Dexter?" she asked, helping him up while avoiding the scattered glass.

Dexter fixed his goggles, sighing. "I'm fine, but there are casualties out there that we need to deal with."

Right. She had almost forgotten about that. The battlefield was a mess, a place of carnage. The shields had stopped and people were running around, looking for their friends and caring for the injured. She couldn't even bare to look at those crying for their friends, the lifeless bodies unmoving among the fray. It was enough to make her gag, and she knew then that she had to look away completely.

"How did Cheese sneak his way inside?" Edd asked, pulling at the base of his sock hat.

Dexter was already making his way towards the door by this point. "I have absolutely no clue, Double D, but if I had a time machine I would make sure he couldn't."

Something clicked in Bubblegum as she watched the two boys travel back down to the ground floor. Time - her time, their time, and wars. This was the beginning of a war, and whether that war would last for months, years, was still yet to be seen. They didn't know the severity of the battles to come, nor did they know their long-term effects. Nothing was clear right now, and she would probably have to do more research, but the possibility was there, and it terrified her.

If this was the Great Mushroom War, at least the beginning of it, and she and the rest of her companions assisted in stopping it, that would mean they were going to alter the future. Ooo probably wouldn't even exist, which meant she and most of her friends wouldn't exist. They wouldn't have a home to return to, stuck in a place that wasn't there own for goodness knows how long. Time paradoxes were a tricky thing, and it wasn't like they could just leave. Them simply arriving in the past was enough to change the future.

This could be more disastrous than she thought.

* * *

 

_January 16th - 7:24pm_

In all of his career, if it could really be called that, Grim had never taken so many souls to the underworld. He had been present during the battle, helping at the back so he wouldn't get caught up in the crowd. It had been Mandy's precaution, of course, since she needed him accessible if she were to call on him. That had all gone down the drain when Dexter's machine had malfunctioned due to some creature, as explained by Dexter during a post-battle meeting, and everything went crazy.

It had only been the initial blast of a shield that took victims, and if there were any others there weren't many, but that had been the perfect cue for the monsters to go crazy. Many of them had been destroyed by the shields as well, but a good number of them had remained, acting like animals hearing a loud noise. They had scattered, trampling on the people who were already down. Usually, such havoc would have made him laugh a little, but that was when he hadn't been in danger himself. He may already be a skeleton, but bones could break, and if that were to happen he would probably just topple to the ground, useless to anyone.

He had finished sending the last soul down when noticed the time. Almost seven-thirty. On a normal day, he would be stuck in either Billy or Mandy's home, watching reruns of some sitcom until they got bored. It had been what? Two days, tops? He was already missing his life in captivity, though it wasn't like he was free. Who knew what Mandy would have him do with a war approaching. No, 'approaching' wasn't the right word. It was already here.

Hero's Hollow was practically deserted now, at least compared to earlier. Most of the troops had returned to their original base of operations, wherever that may be, but there were still people loitering about. They were mainly the people he had seen before, perhaps a few workers. The biggest group was the clump of scientists - Dexter, Mandark, Edd, Professor Utonium, and a pink girl he didn't know - standing by the abandoned war machines. Whatever they were discussing, it was bad enough for them to be packed in together, almost whispering.

Grim coughed, alerting them to his presence. They whirled around as if they had just seen death - well, technically, they had, but that wasn't the point.

"Ah, Grim, how nice of you to join us. I presume you have, erm, sent everyone off?" Dexter asked, hesitant to speak of the matter. He may have been a scientific genius who refused to feel anything but satisfaction, but even he feared the topic of death.

"Yes," Grim said. "I doubt dat's what you wanted to talk to me about, so let's cut to the chase, shall we?" It wasn't just for his benefit. Today was a tragedy, and while they would all have to talk about it at some point, it could wait until everyone had been given the opportunity to rest.

Dexter nodded, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Since you have power over death, we need your assistance. It's for the better of the earth."

"I'm not sure if you realize this, Dexter, but I've never really been interested in doing things for the earth."

"I'm aware," Dexter said. "You are not the only one. But if you do this one thing, it will be a lot less work for you and better for all our chances in winning the war."

Grim raised an eyebrow. "And what would dis 'one thing' be?"

"A way to prevent death."

Under normal circumstances, Grim would have been shocked at this suggestion. As the embodiment of death, it was against all his principles to encourage cheating the system. If someone was to die, they were to die. That was how it had always been. Wars were no exception, sadly enough. It was fair that way. He couldn't take sides as they were both countries on their planet, and it was just the natural order of things.

Then again, an alien invasion wasn't exactly a natural occurrence.

"There may be a way I can make dat happen," he said, stroking his jaw out of habit. "It will take some time, but it should be up within a day or so. In the underworld there is a system, or device, called a Resurrect 'Em. Once dead, a person goes into the underworld and comes out again at a portal. I can put one in most places. It shouldn't be too hard."

"Good," Dexter said. "If you need assistance, please tell us. We need this to work." His fists clenched by his sides. "We don't want a repeat of today."

Grim had to agree. Most of these people were young, innocent. Kids Next Door operatives and the like. Just because it was his job to take the dead down below didn't mean he was heartless.

Without another word, he turned and set to work.


	8. Chapter 8

_January 17th - 12:00am_

_"And now it's time for the late night news. A battle at Hero's Hollow commenced at approximately nine this morning, lasting for hours. It was interrupted by a malfunction at the fault of an imaginary friend, causing a dexLabs war machine to send its shields towards the troops."_

Ace drowned out the sound of the Kids Next Door news as he fiddled with his guitar. Lil' Arturo was snoring on the couch next to his own and he could hear Snake playing table tennis with Grubber in the back room. Big Billy was asleep upstairs, he knew, as he always was at this time of night, leaving the only member of the band unaccounted for Belladonna.

He wasn't stupid. He knew who Belladonna really was and had known ever since she had washed up on the shore. When she told him she had amnesia, he was more than willing to tell her everything, but she kept getting distracted by their instruments and songs. By the time he finally had an opportunity, she said she didn't want to know. She was a member of their band by then and, as far as she was concerned, that was all she had ever known. Even though he was respecting her wishes, he felt like he was doing her a serious injustice. She was Buttercup, after all, the green Powerpuff Girl. The toughest fighter.

The television's image changed from the two news anchors to footage of the battle. He saw Blossom take advantage of her flying powers, twisting and twirling to get the upper hand. Bubbles hadn't been captured on tape, but he knew she was there. There was no way that they wouldn't participate in the war. It was their job, after all.

"Why so down?" He felt a sudden weight on the other side of the couch. Buttercup (no matter how many times he was forced to call her Belladonna she would always be Buttercup to him) grinned at him, that cheeky smile that reeked of mischief. The one he'd fallen for, no matter how much he had tried not to.

Ace gave a small smile back. "I'm not down, Bells. Just looking at the battle exhausted me." He gestured to the television which was showing a picture of a yellow imaginary friend. Cheese was its name.

"I heard about that," she said, frowning slightly. "I have this really strong will to fight. It's weird, I know, but I just want to get in the action and help out."

He didn't find it weird at all. From what he remembered of his crime days, Buttercup had always been ready to fight. Some thought she was just power hungry, and maybe when she was little that was the case, but as she grew older she realized the weight in what she was doing. She had the power to prevent criminals from making the world a bad place, something she had acknowledged during an interview right before she went missing.

"It's not weird," he said, unable to look her in the eye. It was suddenly very stuffy in their small headquarters in Marquee Row. He needed some air. "I'm gonna get some fresh air. Wanna come with?"

She jumped off the couch and headed to the door. Taking that as a yes, he smiled and followed her, the cold night air hitting his face as he stepped onto the front balcony. They had a perfect view of the faraway beach from where they were. Their house may have been small, but it was high up. That was the thing Ace loved most about living where they did. That and the fact that they were close to the auditorium. Not that they could get into the place now.

Screw the infected zones.

"Hey, Ace."

He turned to look at Buttercup. She was staring at the sky, a serious expression on her face. "What is it?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

She hit him in the arm, and boy did she have a powerful punch. He rubbed the spot she'd hit, wincing. Whether she remembered it or not, she was still a human powerhouse.

"You know what I mean. Anyway, the person I was before I joined the band. Would she have joined in that fight earlier today?" She looked at her watch. "I mean yesterday."

There was no use lying to her, even if he wanted to. "Yes, she would have."

The silence after that was comfortable. He could tell she was deep in thought, and he had to admit he was as well. He was contemplating just telling her outright, disregarding everything she had told him concerning her memory, but thought better of it. She would probably end up hitting him if he did, and he didn't want to go through that. In his lifetime, he had survived through too many hits from the Powerpuff Girls. It wasn't an experience he recommended.

He almost missed what she said when she spoke up again. "I'm not ready to know. Not yet. But I think I'll need to sooner or later. When that time comes, will you tell me?"

It was then that he realized she was scared. Terrified, even. Forgetting one's past would be a tough thing to go through, of course, but he didn't know it had affected her this much. He should have known, he really should have, but he was stupid. School was looking better every day.

"I'll tell you," he finally said. "When I do, though, you'll probably hate me. Just a warning."

She frowned at him, a small crease appearing just above her nose. "I could never hate you, Ace."

The amount of sincerity in her words astounded him. He felt like he was on cloud nine just from a simple sentence, but his conscience brought him back down to planet Earth. She couldn't be so sure, he knew she couldn't. Even so, it was nice to believe his feelings could be reciprocated, even a little.

"That's good to hear. But remember that you don't know what type of person I am back in your memories," he said, smile sad now.

His words must have had a bigger effect on her than he thought, because she turned around with such force that he almost fell over the railing. Her expression was one of anger, but he could see the tears glistening in her eyes. They were in the corners, but they were there.

"I don't care! You could have beaten me up for all I care! What matters now is that you're the one who took me in. No matter what you may have thought of me, no matter what I may have thought of you, you gave me a home! You know everything about me but respect what I want and don't tell me anything even though I know you want to - and don't tell me you don't. I'm not blind." She paused, shaky breaths racking her body as she calmed herself down. "Can you, um. Could you tell me my real name? That should be enough for now."

Happy that he didn't have to call her by her fake name anymore, he said, "Buttercup. Your name's Buttercup."

"Buttercup, huh? That sounds familiar."

"It should. It  _is_  your name."

He studied her face. Thoughtful but content was how he would describe it. It was one of his favourite expressions she made, second only to when she was laughing. This time with her was something he would cherish since he had no faith in her forgiving him once she regained her memories. Even if she did, he doubted her family would approve of him.

Wait, approve? He really shouldn't talk like he was already her boyfriend.

"Ace, do you like me or something?"

Her boldness, while not entirely unexpected, did startle him. He hadn't wanted to confront this problem so soon, if at all, but if he had to he was going to tell the truth.

"Uh, yeah."

 _Smooth_.

And there it was - the cheeky grin, but this time it had a faint tinge of relief.

"Good."

* * *

 

_January 17th - 5:20am_

Eddy couldn't sleep.

Ever since word had spread to the Cul-de-sac about the battle at Hero's Hollow, he had been concerned for Edd's safety. Ed was someone he didn't need to worry too much about, not with that blockhead's strength. Besides, Ed hadn't been at Hero's Hollow according to Sarah. With Mac, whoever that was, looking after him Eddy didn't need to worry as much.

Edd was a different story. He wasn't the strongest person ever, and he could become overwhelmed very easily. Eddy would never admit out loud that he was worried, but he really was. This was one of his best friends, after all. One of the only people who had stuck with him through thick and thin, the other being Ed. They had been through everything together - pranks, schemes, travelling to find his brother. All of it was a team effort, and Eddy knew that even though he took all the credit most of the time.

He looked out the window. The Cul-de-sac had calmed down as it was night, but there were still a few people loitering around. Some had probably just woken up, wanting to get an early start on Fuse butt-kicking. Others may have been in the same situation he was, too worried about someone close to them to slip off into dreamland.

After coming to the conclusion that nothing was of interest outside, he turned in bed, ready to try falling asleep again. It almost worked when he heard someone close to his window say, "Oh, Double D's back."

Eddy was wide awake now. Forgetting that he was in his pajamas, he kicked the blankets off and dove out the window, not worried about hurting himself. He caught sight of the sock hat before the rest of the boy and ran at full speed towards it. The force he used was enough to make the more intelligent of the two fall to the ground, beginning the protests.

"Eddy, please! Release me," Edd choked out.

"Right, sorry." He rolled off the scrawnier boy and stood up as other residents of the Cul-de-sac gathered around them.

Nazz spoke up almost instantly. "Double D! What happened? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Edd shook his head. "No, I'm relatively unharmed, only a few scratches. I only had to stay for a discussion with Dexter and the other scientists."

"Until five-thirty in the morning?" Eddy thought that was ridiculous. People needed sleep.

Edd shrugged, moving further towards the centre of their small street. "I know, but we had a lot to account for. Right now I need to check the names of residents in the Suburbs area and highlight those who have, uh, tragically passed. It will probably take a while, so don't mind me."

His attempts to wave them off made Eddy feel angry. This was one of his best friends working himself to the bone while other people just slept and had a carefree time. The back of his mind told him that was a generalization, but he didn't care about that at this point in time.

"I'll help you," Eddy said, tone insistent.

Edd actually looked surprised at this, eyes widening and almost concealing the giant bags underneath them. "You would do something like that? What do you want in return? I don't have any jawbreakers, so -"

Eddy was quick to interrupt. "No, no, sock head! Just let me help you. I wasn't getting any sleep anyway."

"Me too," Nazz said, smile as sweet as ever. She nudged Kevin in the ribs and looked at Jimmy and Sarah, all of whom had been outside. Eddy guessed they hadn't slept either, judging by the way they carried themselves. Rolf and Jonny were outside the Cul-de-sac on guard duty.

Everyone agreed to help Edd who looked like he was about to cry out of relief. They made their way inside Eddy's house, much to his annoyance, and sat in the living room. "The list I have is in my NanoCom, so I should be able to transfer it to yours."

And so they got to work. Eddy had never even known there were so many people living in the Suburbs, and most of them were people around his age or younger. That was a scary thought. They were in the middle of a full-fledged war with weapons and everything. These children could die any moment, yet they were ready to stand up for a cause they believed in. Maybe they were Kids Next Door operatives who were just trained in combat, but then again there were a lot of children on here.

He decided to ask. "Hey, Double D. How many of these kids were Kids Next Door people?"

Edd looked up from his own NanoCom and paused, thinking. "Most underage people I saw were either Kids Next Door operatives or Plumbers, and I think those in the latter category may have been only children of actual Plumbers. Other than that, there were only a few."

That explained a lot.

They all sat in silence for a little while, just working. Eddy didn't think he'd worked on something this diligently for a long time. Perhaps it was because it was so early in the morning and he had nothing to do, or perhaps he felt guilty for not doing anything during the battle. He could have gone if he really wanted to, but what could he do? His only skills were thinking up scams and eating jawbreakers. He wasn't strong like Ed or intelligent to the max like Edd. Now that he thought about it, his insecurities prevented him from doing a lot of stuff.

"Um, Double D?" Sarah's voice was hesitant. "All these people that died. You - you saw it, right?"

Edd looked even more tired if that was possible. "Sort of. I was behind the screen with Dexter when it happened. Everything was sound proof inside so I didn't hear the noises, but I could see everything."

"That sucks, dude," Kevin said, blunt as ever. Eddy guessed he didn't know what else to say.

They didn't say anything else, continuing to work. It took them a good hour and a half to get through all of their lists and the number of deaths was excruciatingly large. The six of them couldn't help but stare at the stack of names. Granted, most of the people had survived, but that didn't shake the absurd number from Eddy's head. Many of these people were younger than he was, and that was a terrifying thought.

"Thanks, every-"

Edd never finished what he was going to say as someone outside shouted, "Is that the Grim Reaper?!"

They rushed out the door to see what was happening. He heard Jimmy give a yelp, clinging onto Sarah. Outside was, indeed, the Grim Reaper. His cloak fluttered in the early morning wind, scythe shining from the already bright sun. Eddy gulped, his palms going sweaty. He knew the Grim Reaper lived somewhere in the Suburbs, having heard Billy and Mandy talking about him on occasion, but this was the first time he'd actually seen him.

"Don't worry. He's hardly scary." They looked at Edd. "He attempts to be, but it doesn't always work. He's helping us with this infiltration upon us, so we're very grateful."

Eddy looked back at death itself, watching as he tapped his scythe on the ground a couple of times. A circle began expanding on the asphalt, not right in the middle of the Cul-de-sac, but close to it. It seemed to be a green portal of some sort, but he couldn't be sure. He was used to traditional scamming, not supernatural abilities, so this was beyond him.

"I thought that was what he was doing," Edd said, walking over to Grim. Eddy reached a hand out to stop him, but Edd only motioned for the rest of them to follow him. "It's perfectly safe."

Grim had seen them before they stopped in front of him. To his surprise, he smiled a little at the sight of Edd. "Hello, Double D. Are these people friends of yours? They better be as tolerable as you."

That must have been it, Eddy realized. Grim probably appeared grumpy all the time because of the company he kept. Billy and Mandy weren't exactly the easiest people to get along with, after all. He couldn't help but wonder why the Grim Reaper, of all people, would hang out with people like them.

Edd avoided Grim's comment, and while in normal circumstances Eddy would have protested (people said they tolerated him all the time!), he didn't want to step a toe out of line. He didn't want to know how much a scythe could hurt.

"Grim's helping us put up, erm, what were they called again?"

"Resurrect 'Ems."

"Right, those." Edd looked at the Eddy and the others, eyes sparkling as they always did when he found something worth researching. "After today's awful tragedy, we enlisted Grim's help in preventing deaths of the troops and anyone else who has a NanoCom. When someone 'dies' in battle, they travel to the nearest Resurrect 'Em where they simply re-spawn, good as new. An interesting concept, I will admit, but one I am willing to study nonetheless."

Grim raised a bony hand. "Stop right dere. As interesting as it might be, the supernatural ain't something you want to mess with. Just ask Billy." The reaper let out a sigh. "Then again, Billy never learns from his mistakes."

After saying a quick goodbye, Grim left the Cul-de-sac, other residents going out of their way to make a path for him. Whether it was intentional or not, the power he radiated was incredible. Then again, he could probably kill someone with the swish of that scythe.

"So does that mean I can ride my bike over a cliff as many times as I like and I won't die?"

"Shut it, Kevin."

* * *

 

_January 17th - 4:54pm_

"Are you sure about this, Numbuh Five?"

Abby wasn't sure, actually. This was a risky move, one that probably shouldn't even be an option, but it was. With the Soopreme Leaduh stuck on the moon with no means of contacting him, she had no choice but to make the decision for herself. Of course, she would have to discuss the option with the Moonbase-Earth Correlation Officer, but she highly doubted she was going to disagree. Yes, recommissioning previous Kids Next Door officers was the only way to do this.

She turned to Numbuhs One and Two. The former looked unsure while the latter was just plain surprised. She could hardly blame them. This was technically against the rules under normal circumstances, but these weren't normal circumstances.

"The Kids Next Door have lost too many operatives already. There may be ways to prevent death for now," she started, gesturing towards the Resurrect 'Em out in Hero Square, "but if there's one thing Abby's learned from being a Teens Next Door operative it's that kids are still kids. The KND is full of more than capable children, we know that, but compared to the missions we get, what they do is child's play. No pun intended. We need all the help we can get."

Hoagie seemed satisfied with this answer, but Nigel was still skeptical. "But the recommissioning module was destroyed, remember?"

Abby gave him a wry smile. "We have plenty of scientists on our hands. It may not be made the Kids Next Door way, but now isn't the time to be picky. I spoke to Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four about it yesterday and they seem to be okay with it. Abby wants the whole team on board before she does anything, okay?"

The two boys nodded, signalling that they were alright with it too.

Without any hesitation, she moved to her NanoCom, typing into the contact list search bar. There must have been thousands of people on there, the most 'important' of which were highlighted with a fluorescent green. She and her team were among those, as well as the Tennysons and co, the Powerpuffs, and everyone else in between. It surprised her how many people she recognized on that list, but that wasn't the point of digging in there. She had someone to call, and that person was way down in the 'Numbuh' category. The Kids Next Door needed their own little folder, naturally.

Pressing on the  _'Numbuh 31.1'_  contact, she sat on the couch in their tree-house living room, holding the NanoCom so whoever answered would be able to see her face. After a few rings, a heart shaped face appeared on the screen, brown ponytails bouncing.

"Hello - Oh, Numbuh Five?! As in the Numbuh Five? Sector V's Numbuh Five?" The girl's voice went octaves higher with each exclamation.

Abby chuckled. "Yes, that Numbuh Five. Nice to meet ya, Numbuh Thirty-One Point One."

"Y-You know who I am?"

"Of course," Abby said. "Numbuh Five knows about most of the operatives in the area. Now, could ya spare a few moments to come to the tree-house? There's something I wanna talk to you about."

After a squeal and some incoherent babbling, the younger girl confirmed that she would be there and hung up. Abby looked at Nigel and Hoagie, both of which were trying to tame their laughter and failing miserably. She whacked them with her hat, shutting them up almost instantly.

"Don't laugh at her, fools! She probably thinks the same about you two."

Not even half an hour later, Numbuh Thirty-One Point One arrived at their door. She was shorter than Abby had thought, practically a stick in the baggy clothes she was wearing. Her smile lit up her entire face and Abby couldn't help but wonder if she had been like that once. No, probably not. Her smiles were smaller, more subtle. This girl reminded her of Kuki in a way.

"May I come inside?" Numbuh Thirty-One Point One asked, coming in when Abby moved out of the way. "Thanks! Whoa, this place is  _huge_. And it  _floats_." She caught sight of Hoagie and Nigel sitting on the sofa, shoving a hand on her mouth to stifle the squeal she made, and sat down next to them, her grin bigger than it was before.

Nigel raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Uh, hello. I'm Numbuh One, this is Numbuh Two."

"I know! You guys are awesome! I'm Numbuh Thirty-One Point One, but you can call me Briony!" Briony said, swinging her legs back and forth as Abby sat down on one of the armchairs beside the sofa. "So what's up?"

Abby took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before speaking. "Well, we have an idea on how to improve the KND's forces, but we want to see what you think first. You're the Soopreme Leaduh in Numbuh Sixty-Three's stead so we're obligated to run this by you." She took a deep breath. "We have geniuses who are capable of creating a recommissioning module to bring back the old members of the Kids Next Door. We know it's risky, but with the way everything happened yesterday we don't want to take our chances. Ultimately, this is your choice, but we hope you don't say no outright. They'll be decommissioned again once the war's over, of course."

Briony's face became serious. She may have been a massive fangirl, but when push came to shove she took her job very seriously. "I see where you're coming from, and I can tell you've been debating this for some time. I think it's a good idea and stuff, but we need to have the thing created first. We'll have to destroy the module as well since it's not two by four technology. If someone power hungry got their hands on that it would be horrible." She shuddered. "Okay, I say yes for now, but if the feedback we receive from other operatives is negative I'll have to reconsider."

"We understand," Nigel said, nodding once.

Hoagie smiled at the young girl. "For someone who's only stepping in you sure know what you're doing."

Briony flushed but tried to brush it off. "O-Oh, well I try my best."

As the two boys continued to praise her, Abby couldn't help but enter her deep thought mode. Being a previous Soopreme Leaduh, she knew how hard it could be when feedback wasn't exactly friendly, but she really hoped it would work out.

They needed all the help they could get.


	9. Chapter 9

_January 17th - 9:46pm_

Despite everything that was happening around him, Toiletnator was in a good mood. He had been given the task of being the link between the adults and the Kids Next Door. A dangerous mission indeed, but Father had said how much he depended on him. After all, he wasn't there to make nice. Being a spy was his main goal - gain the trust of the Kids Next Door. He couldn't wait to see their faces when they found out.

Why he had to be stationed in Camp Kidney, however, he did not know. Sure, Numbuh Three and Numbuh Four were just around the corner, but they weren't the only Kids Next Door operatives in the world. Then again, staking out the Sector V tree-house was probably too obvious. He knew that  _now_ , and it wasn't like he was going to repeat mistakes from the past. Whether the other three were going to spread out among the world was yet to be seen, but they couldn't stay in the tree-house forever.

He was thinking about this when he heard crying, sobs that seemed to echo throughout the entire camp. Concerned, he moved towards the source of the noise only to find a blonde girl hiding her head in her hands. She didn't look like she was younger than fifteen, so he assumed he was safe. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how a girl like her had ended up here in the first place. It wasn't exactly the safest place, after all, though from what he'd heard it was less contaminated compared to other areas in the Wilds.

The girl's head shot up as soon as he stepped on a twig, eyes narrowing at him, though the effect was lost with her puffy red eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm," a dramatic pause, "the Toiletnator!"

She blinked at him then snorted. "What kind of name is that? Are you supposed to be some sort of superhero?"

"I'm a villain, actually."

The girl began laughing even harder, tears of laughter instead of sadness falling from her eyes. She calmed down soon enough, but not after hiccuping a few times. "You gotta be a pretty lame villain."

Toiletnator sighed. "I get that a lot."

The girl shrugged. "It's 'kay. Not like I could come up with any better. I'm May, by the way. Hey, did I just do that rhyming thing?"

Even if May looked like a teenager, Toiletnator couldn't help but wonder if she was one of those types that was a child at heart. If so, things could become tricky, but she didn't seem to be the obnoxious kind of child, not like the Kids Next Door. Maybe he could deal with her.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked, sitting on the opposite side of the picnic table she was propped up on. "It's kind of dangerous here. And why were you crying?" He knew he wasn't acting much like a villain, but if he had to pretend to be nice to others he may as well start with the girl right in front of him. Besides, he was curious.

May began bawling again as he mentioned her actions earlier. After a good minute or so, she finally managed to calm down enough to speak. "Well, there's this guy, my Ed-bear, and my sisters and I always show our affection to him and his friends, yeah? So, we went and did that a few days ago, but he ran away from me and went this way. Now I can't find h-h-him!" On the last word, high pitched squeals escaped her mouth, making Toiletnator cover his ears. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.

"Uh, you know there are places other than this camp, right? He probably went further into the wilderness," he tried to reason, hoping it worked.

It calmed her down slightly, but she was still sniffling into her hands. Toiletnator couldn't say it was very hygenic, but this was coming from a guy who transported himself via toilet bowl. He watched her as snot ran down her face, falling onto her hands. He made a face and took a roll of toilet paper from his pocket, handing it to her while making sure their hands didn't touch. She took the paper and blew her nose with a loud snorting noise.

"I'm lost. I don't know where I a-am," May sniffled. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Toiletnator froze. It wasn't as if he could just tell her why he was there. His mission was a secret, after all. Then again, she didn't seem to know the Kids Next Door, so surely it wouldn't hurt to boast a little, right?

"Well, can you keep a secret?" he asked slyly, leaning forward.

May's mouth made an 'o' shape. "Yeah, yeah, what is it?" Well, at least she seemed eager.

"I'm a secret agent," he whispered, though it was more of a stage whisper than anything. He jumped back as soon as he said it, as if he didn't want to be caught or draw suspicion to himself. It was futile, of course, considering that there was no one else around, but he was in the moment.

May didn't seem to understand the impact of what he'd said, a dumb look on her face. Was that her normal face? It was certainly the one she wore the most around him. He actually got a kick out of that, thinking he was too smart for her. It would be a first.

"A secret agent?" May asked, and Toiletnator winced at how loud she was being. There may not have been other people there, but the clearing echoed. If anyone from Mount Blackhead was on patrol they might hear her. "What for? Come on, tell me! Please, please, please!"

As she begged him, obnoxious voice entering his ears, he sighed. This was going to take a while.

* * *

_January 18th - 1:09am_

"You made a deal with death  _and_  interrupted me when I'm sleeping?!"

Juniper Lee ignored Monroe as he continued to whine and complain, gathering various items and shoving them in her backpack. She had bumped into Fusion monsters near the entrance to Orchid Bay, just another incentive to not return, but she had to. Her brothers and dog were here, as were her friends and grandmother. She couldn't just leave without saying anything.

Her grandmother had given her permission to reveal her position of Te Xuan Ze to others as the situation was out of her hands. These weren't mythical creatures or monsters she were fighting. These were aliens, beings from another planet different to their own. They weren't under her jurisdiction and didn't have to listen to her, but she could still do something. Her abilities were still with her, so that was something, and that along with her knowledge of magic would be of good use. Or, at least she hoped so. Dexter seemed to think so, anyway.

"Where are you even going, anyway?" Monroe continued. "Why not just stay here?"

June had considered that option. In the beginning she hadn't wished to fight in the war. Her abilities were meant for magic, not aliens. However, she had spoken with her grandmother who had told her a little investigation wouldn't hurt. If there was magic involved then she would want to know about it, and it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"I think the question should be where aren't I going, actually," she said, tip-toeing around so she didn't wake up Ray Ray, who was fast asleep on the couch. The two of them may have grown older, but he was still her younger brother. He may have argued about being a teenager, saying that he was "so mature", but she didn't know if she wanted to get him involved. She knew he would want to be, but it would probably be unsafe.

"And you're not even taking me or your brother." Why couldn't Monroe have just stayed asleep? "That's treachery, I tell you."

June was five seconds away from strangling the magic dog, but she resisted. Just. "I never said you weren't coming. I'm going to need your knowledge. It's Ray Ray I'm worried about taking."

"Just the kid?" Monroe scoffed, leaning his head on his paws. "He's gonna be angry if you don't take him, you know."

"His safety is more important."

As if hearing their conversation, Ray Ray woke up, rubbing his eyes slowly. June silently cursed herself for speaking so loudly, though in her mind it was mainly Monroe's fault. He had started it, after all.

"What's going on?" Ray Ray asked, yawning in the middle of his sentence.

June was about to make up an excuse, but Monroe seized his chance. "This lass is going to go investigating extra terrestrial life without you."

That gained Ray Ray's attention. He jumped up, almost knocking over the lamp with his legs. "You're gonna do what?! I thought you were going to have nothing to do with that alien thing."

"Even though she helped out at Hero's Hollow without me knowing," Monroe grumbled.

It was true that June had escaped Orchid Bay without her family and Monroe's knowledge. Her watch had signaled to her that there was trouble afoot, but when it tried to lead her out of Orchid Bay, she'd had to change her plans a little. She had known that the Grim Reaper was having a holiday here, or at least had been trying to when the aliens invaded. He was a special case when it came to magic and was able to grant her the ability to be free of Orchid Bay with the use of the Veil. It was a stretch, and she would have to return every few months or so for the spell to be renewed, but it was worth it.

After the deal had been made, the two of them had sped off to Hero's Hollow, the place June's watch had told her to be. It was almost unheard of for the signal to reach anywhere but Orchid Bay, so she had thought this had to be some sort of magic war or something. What she ended up with was aliens, aliens, and more aliens. Since Dexter had never given her a real job at their meeting previously, she had exempted herself from the war and had been about to turn back when she was forced into the crowd of soldiers.

Once she was there she had decided to help in any way she could. It was only right.

"That was a special circumstance and you know it, Monroe," she said, zipping her bag up. "I didn't mean to get involved."

"Then why are you getting involved now?" Ray Ray asked. "And without  _me_!"

June rolled her eyes. "Because Ah-Mah told me to. Or, at least she told me it would be good to investigate in case there's magic somewhere in all this craziness. The reason I'm going without you is because I want you to be safe. You may know about magic, but aliens are different."

Ray Ray crossed his arms. "They're not that different. Besides, if magic's involved then I  _can_  help."

She had to admit, the boy had a point. In the past few years, Ray Ray had been studying magic quite a lot. Of course, like most boys his age studying wasn't the ideal way for him to spend his time, so it was really bits and pieces here and there. Even so, it had paid off, and he had quite the mountain of knowledge in that brain of his. If magic really had something to do with this Fuse or whatever his name was, Ray Ray would be a big help.

"Alright, fine," June sighed. "You can come. Just don't go provoking any aliens, okay? For now we're setting out to research stuff, not fight stuff. There is a difference."

Ray Ray saluted and followed June as she walked out of her bedroom door. Her parents and Dennis were asleep and she didn't want to wake them, so she made sure to tread quietly, whispering at Ray Ray and Monroe to do the same. It was her agility that really got her down the stairs and to the door, opening it without a hitch. She was about to step outside when she saw the boy on her doorstep, finger centimeters away from the doorbell with a blank look on his face.

Shutting the door quickly behind her, Juniper breathed, "Marcus! What are you doing here? Do you know what time it is?" Her tone wasn't harsh, only curious. "Wait, don't tell me. Jody and Ophelia told you, didn't they?"

The only people she had told about her powers were Jody and Ophelia, never really having the chance to tell anyone else. In the past twenty-four hours she had gone through endless questions about the magic world. The Veil had been lifted and now everyone was seeing mythical creatures. It was exhausting to see people screaming from all the creatures they could suddenly see around. As much as she had wanted her friends to know why she was always MIA, having people constantly running from perfectly harmless people - er, species - was getting annoying.

"Guilty as charged," Marcus admitted, scuffing his feet along the pavement. "I had a feeling you would be awake for some reason so I came by, but I didn't expect you to be heading out. Oh, by the way, Roger also knows. He's probably gonna go all fanboy on you when you see him next."

Cue the nervous laughter. "Great. Well, I'm heading out to do some research and see if there's any magic involved in this alien thing."

"Can I come with?" Marcus asked. "I mean, I couldn't sleep anyway. This alien stuff is freaky."

"Why not? I could do with some company," June said, shrugging her shoulders and heading to where her bike had been tossed in the front yard.

Ray Ray gave a look of offense. "Hey, what are we? A bacon side dish?"

"Mm, bacon," Monroe said to himself as he plopped himself down into the bike's front basket. "I could do with some of that right now."

Marcus jumped backwards, almost knocking over his own bike. "Your dog can talk?"

Oh, right, that. June had almost forgotten that Monroe couldn't be understood by anyone other tan her, Ah Mah, or Ray Ray. "Uh, yeah. He's always been able to do that, but only seers of magic could tell. Now that the Veil's been lifted everyone can hear what he says. Poor humanity. Life was better when he just barked for a living."

"Hey, I take offense to that! I don't even make a living, you know."

June and Marcus only looked at each other and laughed as Ray Ray began peddling down the street. The younger boy went only a few meters before calling back, "Where are we going, exactly?" It made June laugh at just how similar he was to his eight year old self.

Before she could tell him they were starting at the elves that lived under the cinema, she caught sight of a familiar pink dog running her way. She recognized him from the meeting at dexLabs, but like her he hadn't been given a proper job. It made her wonder why he was even there in the first place, unless he was like Monroe and could speak. That would make for some interesting conversation at the very least.

"Is this a friend of yours?" Marcus asked, eyeing the pink dog as it ran around her yard.

"No, this one's new," June said, abandoning her bike to go over to the dog. "Though I don't think he's from Orchid Bay. I saw him at the meeting at dexLabs, but I don't know why he was there."

The dog, without warning, jumped into her arms while barking. He wriggled around as she asked, "Who are you."

"C-Courage!" the dog seemed to bark out. "Come w-with me! Hurry!"

The three humans and their dog exchanged confused looks. Courage jumped out of June's arms and tugged on her jeans, signalling for her to follow him. She supposed she had no choice but to do so. Maybe she would find out something of use.

* * *

_January 18th - 6:33am_

Finn wrapped his newly bought jacket around him even though he was sure it couldn't become any tighter. The air was cold, and while many would expect him to be used to it due to regular visits to the Ice Kingdom, it was different here. The atmosphere was different than in Ooo, though he couldn't put his finger on the reason as to why that was. It just seemed so much stranger, more foreign, despite that this was the same world he lived in, only thousands of years before. Even thinking about it made him feel weird.

If Jake was experiencing the same feelings as him, he wasn't showing it. He was speaking quietly to Lady as they walked down the pathways of the Wilds without a care in the world. Then again, Jake was always the more laid back out of the two of them, and the cold probably wasn't even bothering him. He was a magical dog with magical fur, after all, so it probably kept him at the correct temperature quite well.

Princess Bubblegum had called the residents of Ooo to a meeting in the middle of the wilderness. Why she did so was still a mystery to Finn as she had been incredibly vague over the NanoCom. All he knew was that she had something important to talk about and that she needed everyone possible to attend, even those like the Ice King. Not everyone was able to make it, however, as Flame Princess was assisting with the aftermath of Hero's Hollow and Beemo was doing something at Sector V. It was Finn's job to fill them in later.

The place they were scheduled to meet was the Pimpleback Mountains, a dark area if Finn said so himself. Princess Bubblegum was already waiting beside one of the cabins on the top of the mountain, the Ice King and Gunter already there with her, and LSP was talking on her phone to someone on the other side of the mountain. Knowing her it probably wasn't a terribly important conversation, but trying to get her off her phone was like trying to mount and ride a bear.

"Oh, Finn, Jake, Lady!" Bubblegum said when she saw them, a beam on her face. She also looked relieved, which made sense considering the Ice King had been her only real company for a while. "Nice to see you here. We're only waiting on Marceline now."

"I'm right here, Bonnie."

Finn looked behind him to see the vampire girl in all her glory, guitar and sunhat at the ready. She drifted over so she was standing right beside him. "I have a meeting with the Grim Reaper, so let's make this quick."

Bubblegum gave that face, the one she always made when Marceline said something. A sort of exasperated but content look. "Alright, alright. We're just waiting for LSP to  _finish her phone call_." She raised her voice on the last few words, directing them at LSP who seemed to get the message.

"Ugh, Princess, I have to go. TTYL." LSP hung up and floated over to where the rest of them were gathered, a scowl prominent on her face. "Come on, I don't have all day."

Finn was sure that LSP really did have all day, but he kept quiet. He was too tired to argue, having spent most of his night fighting monsters away from various areas of Downtown. He hadn't complained, though. Being a hero was what he did, no matter what time of day, and it did help somewhat that there were so many other capable people around. He hadn't realized that the past was full of so many different people.

Bubblegum coughed as everyone looked at her. "It has come to my attention that helping out with this war may not be the most ideal plan."

Finn almost choked, though his mouth was too dry to make that possible. "What?! But that's not right, PB. We agreed to help and so we should help."

"I was completely willing to help as well, but that was before a theory came to mind." When no one said anything, the princess continued. "What if this is the Great Mushroom War? What if we help change the outcome, even just a little bit, and we cease to exist thousands of years from now? We may never be able to return to our home."

While Lady spoke in rapid Korean and the Ice King let out a string of questions, Finn sunk into his own thoughts. A part of him, a tiny yet loud part of him, wondered if that was really a bad thing. This was a time when humans were the main species on Earth. This was a golden opportunity to learn how they lived, how they spent their time, what they had created before and during the great Mushroom War (if this was, in fact, that exact war), and most importantly how they interacted with each other. He could carry conversations with a magical dog, candy people, and a vampire any day, but he knew next to nothing about his own kind.

He saw Jake eye him suspiciously, but his best friend didn't have the chance to say anything as Bubblegum said, "Please, just consider it. I need to get back to my people, and we all have people back in Ooo we want to see." She sighed. "Please."

The meeting dispersed, but Finn wasn't as eager to slay monsters anymore. He had a decision to make. He just didn't know what the right option was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam, there's the nine chapters already on FF. Now I must sleep as it is far too early for me to be awake.


End file.
